Marble & Stone
by theoddcouple
Summary: Lovino is a sculptor. A mishap with magic (not his idea, of course) can leave him with more than he bargained for. The 21st century. (Other pairings include: FrUk, PruCan and Prussia x France.) (We just don't feel like writing this story anymore. This school year was tough on us. We might begin a new one, though, so... watch for it)
1. Chapter 1

Lovino worked with stone. It matched his personality quite well. He was known to be cold-hearted, strong-willed and hard-headed. He didn't play well with others, so he didn't have any interns or employees. Which was fine with him, as most of his money had to go back to his family.

His family consisted of his grandfather and his two brothers. His grandfather, Romulus, was a strict and commanding fellow. He worked with a few important people that weren't afraid to step all over people that they saw as lower than they. Lovino hated them. Lovino loved his brothers, Feliciano and Angelo. Feliciano was his twin, but Lovino often teased that he was five minutes older. Feliciano teased that Lovino was his 'little' brother because he was an inch shorter. They both spoiled Angelo rotten, though.

Lovino hated his grandfather. Romulus thought that just because they were in the same family meant that they had to do the same things. Romulus worked in the trade industry, and he expected Feliciano and Lovino to do the same. So, out of spite, Lovino decided to take up sculpting. Lo and behold, he found he was quite talented. His sculptures could sell for almost as much as Michelangelo's.

Lovino often took his anger out while he was sculpting. Since he had to chip and chisel away at the granite, marble and alabaster, his anger fell away with the little pieces of stone. Most of his sculptures were of family- both being torn apart and put back together.

Romulus didn't like that Lovino sculpted. Sculpting didn't bring in money as often as trade did- in fact, sculptures took a lot of time and money that Romulus claimed the family didn't have. Lovino knew different. Lovino knew where the money went. It went to Romulus's drinking problem. Lovino knew that once he got a sculpture done, it would be worth more than three months of trade.

Because of his job, Lovino's hands were calloused and often bloody. He had many bandages from doing his work. There were many works that he was proud of- one of a mother and her weeping baby, one with an elderly man and his grandson talking, one of three children with an alcoholic father. But there was one that he loved the most, one that he would never get rid of.

The statue of a man. The man was muscular, had high cheekbones, a chiseled jaw and curly locks. His smile held more joy than Lovino had experienced in his whole life. He had named the man 'Antonio.' The name 'Antonio' meant 'highly praiseworthy' and he thought it was quite fitting.

Lovino knew his grandfather disapproved of his sculpting. He knew he should be learning trade, as his grandfather wanted to. But he was a very hyper man, and his hands needed something to do. Sculpting was a good way to keep him from breaking something.

Once he was finished with his sculpting, he decided to paint Antonio. He painted his eyes shamrock green, his hair obsidian and his skin a coppery brown.

Lovino didn't know this, but Feliciano often came by while he was working to admire his sculptures and (few) paintings. Feliciano often tried to convince Romulus that Lovino's work wasn't a waste of time, but Romulus never listened. Romulus didn't seem to like Lovino- and the feeling seemed to be mutual. The two never spoke unless they were talking about money for food, clothing, or other necessities.

One evening, Lovino was getting ready to leave when he heard a few things falling from his shelf in the other room. That wasn't uncommon, as his work area was in a crowded part of the city. Florence, Italy was were the Vargas family was residing. Lovino had a penpal in England that he couldn't write to often, but they tried to keep in touch. He went to the room. It was a paint can. he picked it up and put it back on the shelf before locking the place up for the night. He headed home.

When he got there, he could hear Feliciano and Romulus arguing. "Stop treating Angelo like he's a baby! He's twelve, not two!"

"Just because I want to keep my youngest grandson safe doesn't mean-"

"You never did this for Lovino! You never did that for me! You obviously love Angelo more than us."

"I don't love any of you more than the others, Feli. Angelo just... he's fragile."

Lovino rolled his eyes and hung up his coat. "Feliciano is fragile."

Romulus looked at him and narrowed his eyes. "And where have you been?"

"My shop. You know, the only place I ever am." He took off his shoes and wiped a few beads of sweat off of his face. He stood.

"What are you doing?"

"Taking a bath. What does it look like, bastard?"

"Don't speak to me like that. I am your elder."

"I don't give a damn. I'm not going to respect you if you don't respect me. Now, if you'll get out of my way..." Lovino pushed past his grandfather and went to the bathroom.

"...Lovi?" Lovino heard a small voice call from the hallway.

"Yes, Angelo?"

"Could you tuck me in?"

"Of course." Lovino tucked Angelo in. "Is that okay?"

Angelo nodded. "...are Feli and Nonno going to be okay?"

Lovino nodded. "They just have to talk about a few things. Don't worry about it. Everything's going to be fine." He went to the bathroom once he knew Angelo was asleep. He took a bath in peace, then went to his room. Before he fell asleep, he opened the window and allowed a small breeze to pass through his room. He swore he heard small giggles before he drifted off.

* * *

 **Okay, so, this is going to be a multi-chapter fic. This will be updated once a week- on Fridays unless I write the chapter and get a little antsy and decide to post early, like now. This is being written by two people- every other chapter will be written by me. My pen name is Lukas and the other person who is writing this is Mathias. Mathias is lazy, so we might make up to two (maybe 3! chapters a week). We hope you enjoy. Please follow, favourite and review!**


	2. Chapter 2

"Urgh. Where have you all gone?" Arthur frantically looked through his basement, glancing under and between everything a fairy could use to hide. "I'm sorry. You know I didn't mean to hit you!"

The Englishman did feel bad. He had rolled up a paper and smacked one of his fairies with it, having momentarily mistaken it for a bug. He felt like a horrible person as she cried softly, flying away with one bent wing.

"Wherever you are, just please come out. I want to make sure your wing is alright!" He jumped up and made a run for it as he saw a line of orange fairy dust disappearing around a corner. "Laurelai, is that you? Get back here and help me find your sister!"

The mischievous fairy left him screaming at the wall with only a cruel snicker. "Damn, these things are a handful," The magician mumbled before returning to his search.

He was about ready to give up when he caught sight of a slight glimmer of lilac glitter. "Lantana?"

He followed the little pixie as she made her way around the basement, seemingly making a game out of it.

Arthur didn't notice the pixie making a sharp upward turn until he ran into a cabinet, effectively knocking it over and sending glass shards across the floor. He cursed as he regained his footing, making a mental note to fix it with magic later.

He tried to find his fairy friend again, to no avail. "Lantana? Are you still angry at me?"

Lantana landed and skittered across the floor, trying to find something to mess with Arthur. She saw the one thing that would piss him off quickly- his wand. _Bingo._

She zipped through the air, right over the head the of the struggling man with a bump rapidly appearing beside one of his bushy eyebrows. She laughed, grabbing a hold of the wand sticking out of his robe pocket. It was twice as big as she was, and nearly weighed her down. She forced herself to flag her little wings harder and pulled herself, with the wand, out of the Englishman's reach.

She heard him hollering, but gave him no mind. She fluttered out of the basement, leaving him behind. She heard him stomping up the stairs. "Lantana! You had best get back down here! Give me my wand! I am not playing around, Lantana!"

As she reached the top of the staircase, long before Arthur would, she ran into a problem. The door was shut. And locked, by the looks of it. Normally, she would be able to fight with the doorknob until it opened, but with the wand in her grasp, that wasn't really an option.

As Arthur's footsteps started clomping up the steps, she panicked, waving the wand around slightly. A flash of light left the tip of the wand. The door flew open, nearly breaking off of the hinges.

The magician's cursing could be heard all of the way out the door. She only snickered as she disappeared, flying as far and fast as her little wings would let her.

A thing about fairies: They can move far without taking a break. Even while carrying the wand, she flew herself all of the way Florence before she had to stop to rest. She landed on top of a small wooden shack. The boards creaked, even under her tiny feet. She slipped through a rather large crack in the roof, taking in the sight of several marble statues. She flew around the shack. Her eyes landed on a particular statue.

He landed on the statue's hand, taking in the sight of it. It was amazing. The detail was unbelievable. The man looked real. Not even his eyes looked like they were sculpted from marble. They were strikingly green and seemed to follow her around the room. She got an idea. Surely she wouldn't be able to... No, it was possible. That was how she had come to be.

She lifted the wand, struggling to hold it up. She aimed the tip at the statue and mustered up some might. She waved the wand, having to fly her whole body in a circle as she did so. A flare-like burst spurted from the wand. It hit the statue dead on.

It started to fall backwards, crashing to the floor way too quickly. Lantana hoped she hadn't screwed up. She was fairly certain she had gotten the motion right, and it was a silent spell...

The fall began to happen in slow motion. The statue hit the ground with a huge force, shaking the whole shack. Little pieces of marble went all over the floor, catching in the small cracks and creases of the floor.

Lantana closed her eyes, hearing nothing but the crash. She was scared to open them, horrified that she had ruined the statue. Eventually, she opened one eye wide enough to take a peak. What she saw amazed her.

There was the man in the statue, sitting on the floor. He was covered in marble dust... and he was very naked. Lantana's face turned red as she fluttered over to him, landing on his shoulders. He looked at her, smiling childishly as he stood. "Did you create me?"

Lantana quickly shook her head. The man looked down. "Oh..."

He started to walk around the shack, running his hands over everything. He paid no mind the the tools he knocked off of the tables or the minor projects he pushed to the ground. As he caught his foot on the leg of the table, he fell on top of it. Everything fell to the ground.

Lantana slowly back out of the shack, slipping through the same crack she had entered through. She brought the wand with her, as she knew leaving it with him was a very bad idea. With a troublesome smile on her face, she flew back to a very upset Arthur Kirkland.

* * *

 **I'm lazy, huh, Lukas?**


	3. Chapter 3

Lovino hadn't had a good night's sleep, so he thought his imagination was playing tricks on him when he heard thumping around in his shop. It couldn't be possible- he had locked it the night before! He did know a few people that could pick locks but they wouldn't do that to him. He unlocked the door and the thumping only got louder. He pulled out a chisel and a hammer. He could take someone's eye out with it- if they seemed threatening.

He raised the tools defensively and slowly made his way to the sound. He had to step over a few broken pieces of stone (he was angry about that) and spilled paints. His eyes wandered over the room until he saw a statue missing- Antonio. He assumed someone had taken it, as there was no way it could move about on its own. Right?

'Shut the fuck up, me.' He bit his lip to stop himself from making a sound. He peeked around the corner-

And promptly dropped his hammer and chisel. His eyes widened and his hair curl stood straight up.

Antonio looked towards the noise and to Lovino. "Hello!"

"...what... the... serious... fuck..?" He looked at the statue and felt his face heating up. He tried not to look at the perfect man he had made out of stone- that wasn't supposed to be moving!

"You must be who made me, yes?" His green eyes flashed with- wonder? admiration?- as he looked at Lovino.

"...yes, I am. _How the fuck are you alive?!_ "

"I don't know. I was stone and then *poof*! I wasn't!" His voice was smooth, like melted chocolate, and sweet, too.

"Did you see anything odd when you came to life?"

"Nope." He was messing with something.

"Put that down! That's important and I don't want you to break it." It was an old astrolabe that had been in his family for years. He didn't want to lose it.

Antonio put it on the table he found it on. He was still eyeing it in a way Lovino didn't like. Lovino went over and grabbed it before sticking it in his pocket.

"...let's get you some clothes..."

"Why? I like this airy feeling."

"Because we'd get put in jail. I don't want to do that." Lovino sighed and looked Antonio up and down. "I'll get you some clothes. _Stay right here **or else**._ "

"Yes, sir." Antonio saluted him and became as still as a statue.

Lovino rolled his eyes and left. He went home and sifted through Romulus's clothes until he found a pair that looked like they'd fit Antonio. He ran up to his room before Romulus got home. He grabbed a bag and shoved them in before going to the kitchen, grabbing some bread, cheese and a jug of water. He walked back to his shop. He sighed in relief when he found Antonio standing exactly where he had told him to stay.

"Here. I got you some clothes. They may be big on you but we can get you new ones." He handed the clothes over. He went to the other room and looked at his broken table and smashed statues. He wanted to cry, but he wouldn't. He picked his things up off the floor and began to clean.

"What are you doing?" Lovino heard Antonio ask from right behind him. He looked back and stood.

"I'm cleaning."

"Why?"

"Because I don't want my place to stay this messy."

"Oh. Can I help?"

"No."

"Are you sure I can't do anything?" Antonio batted his eyelashes at Lovino. He didn't know how adorable he looked.

"You can try to move that table. Or, you know, the parts of it."

"...I'm sorry about that..." Antonio looked at the ground and rubbed the back of his neck.

"It's fine. Put the pieces by that wall." Lovino pointed toward the wall by the door. He then looked at the broken marble. "...I might be able to do something with this."

Antonio grabbed a leg of the table and put it against the wall. He looked at the rest, which was buried under Lovino's many tools. He moved the tools to the side and picked up another leg. He put it by the other one. He grabbed one half of the top of the table and put it by the legs before sitting down. "That's enough for now."

Lovino had managed to move the heavy marble to another part of the room. He grabbed a piece of parchment and a piece of coal. He got an image in his head of what he wanted to statue to look like as he looked at the marble. He bit his lip, then began to sketch. A small satyr leaning on a mulberry bush looked good in his mind. He put it down on paper. It took longer than he had wanted it to.

Antonio still hadn't moved anything other than the legs and half of the table. Lovino noticed.

When he finally noticed it was getting dark, he mentally kicked himself. "Shit. I have to get home. _Stay here. Do not move."_

"I won't." Antonio lied, of course. He didn't have a conscience, so he didn't feel bad.

Lovino shoved the parchment and the coal in his bag and slung it over his shoulder. "Don't move an inch. Got it?"

"Yes, sir."

Lovino stepped out into the rapidly fading sunlight. He quickly walked home, fearing what would happen to him if he took his time. He felt like something bad was going to happen, but he didn't know what it was.

He quietly opened the front door and slipped in. He made it to his bed before Romulus knew.

* * *

 **I hope Mathias pulls their weight here.**

 **If not, no cuddles for a month.**


	4. Chapter 4

**See, Lukey? I can pull my own weight.**

* * *

Antonio sat around for a few minutes after a Lovino had left. He was getting bored. Horribly bored. He didn't want to sit and wait for Lovino to get back.

After trying, and failing, to entertain himself with that had been left (mainly rubble that was once a statue and pieces of a now-ruined table), he decided to find some better entertainment.

He opened the shack's wooden door and he disappeared into the night, leaving it wide open behind him. He wandered through all of the buildings, jumping anytime an animal happened to wander by.

He followed a small, fuzzy creature with big ears all of the way through a nearby forest. It was fast, and Antonio struggled to keep up. Eventually, his foot caught on a tree root and his face fell onto a hole, which was apparently home to hundreds of little tiny things with six legs. He nearly screamed as he brushed them off of his face, hurrying back the way he came.

Antonio wandered the nearby area, picking at the small red bumps that had appeared all over his face. They were starting to burn. Badly. He began to whimper, as this feeling was new to him.

He began to make his way back, deciding that this was all a very bad idea.

Antonio went a little past the shack and eventually found a house. It was fairly large compared the other houses and was in good shape. He slipped inside, looking around at all of the expensive and very _fragile_ items in the house.

Having learned his lesson at the shack, Antonio didn't touch anything as he made his way to the bedroom of a young couple who were sleeping peacefully beside each other. He came closer to investigate when the man opened his eyes and spotted him. He quickly got up.

Antonio, not knowing any better, just stood there. It wasn't until the man started throwing punches that he realized his mistake.

Antonio cried as bruises started to appear quickly, covering his arms and chest in various shades of black and blue. A particularly harsh strike to the side of his face made his start to run out of the house. The left side of his face bore a dark purple bruise by the time he reached the shack again.

The door was still open and a few birds had taken residence. After scaring them out with his rambunctious footsteps, Antonio shut himself in the small building.

He rubbed his jaw, whimpering at the pain when he touched the bruise. There were already tears running down his face. And he hadn't even been alive for half a week!

Antonio decided that maybe living wasn't all it was cracked up to be... Hell, he had been beaten not even 48 hours into his life. He faintly remembered life as a statue; Lovino would always send him admirable glances, no matter what his attention was supposed to be on. Lovino had even talked to him at times, though he couldn't recall much of what had been said.

Lovino had even called him his guardian angel on several occasions. Antonio wasn't 100% sure what that meant, but it sounded sweet and was nice to hear. Come to think of it, the Italian said quite a few sweet things when he was in the mood. Behind that cold exterior, he was caring and gentle. Antonio knew enough to know something had made him add that extra layer to himself. Something had forced this sweet person to hide who he really was, as if he were a crab hiding in its shell. He just wished he knew _what_ would do such a thing.

Antonio looked around at the marble scraps and rubble around him, as well as pieces of ruined table. It looked exactly the same as it had when he left.

Bending down, Antonio started to clean the small shards. After a little while, all that remained was a debris pile in the corner and the white powder that wouldn't be easy to get rid of. He had taken the liberty of separating the fragments of table from the marble, remembering what Lovino had said about being able to 'do something with them.'

Antonio curled up in the corner, shivering a little. It was cold in the shack. He hadn't noticed it much before, but it was colder in there than it was outside. He noticed a twig laying on the ground, and he picked it up. Not having anything better to do, he shook it.

Immediately, the room heated up. Antonio started to sweat as he threw it back onto the ground, where a small flame erupted. The stick vibrated softly and the flame was extinguished.

Antonio backed further into the corner, not wanting to cause anything worse to happen. He noticed a small twinkle. His lovely little fairy friend had returned. With the damn wand.

Lantana giggled mischievously as she circled the small shack, lifting the stolen wand. Arthur would be furious when he found out, but it was worth it with what she had been up to.

With Antonio's trembling and whimpering, obviously afraid of the wand's power, she felt pity for him. With one wave, all of the rubble started to levitate. It floated back into the original form. The table returned, good as new. The statues were restored to their former glory. The only different thing from a few days ago was the very alive Antonio staring, wide-eyed in amazement.

Lantana left him with a grin and flirty wave. Antonio just admired the newly-restored statues. The detail was amazing... He couldn't believe he had been created the same way.

Antonio's eyelids had been starting to droop shut for a while. He didn't know this new feeling, but he knew to lie down. He tossed and turned, trying to get comfortable on the hard floor. Despite the discomfort, he was out in less than twenty minutes.


	5. Chapter 5

**You say as you wait until the very last possible second to post. And only after I got on your ass about finishing it, too. Really, Mathias.**

* * *

Lovino was relieved to find Antonio still in the shack. He looked around and was a little surprised to see that Antonio had cleaned up a little. And that his table was fixed. He would have to ask about that. He had a bag over his shoulder and he stepped over to Antonio.

Antonio held his breath. He was sure there was something on his face from last night- a black eye, or a few red dots... but there was nothing. Lovino looked at him and saw nothing abnormal. He held out his hand.

"Come. We're going to get you clothing."

Antonio took his hand and Lovino pulled him up. Antonio was heavier than Lovino thought he would be. He let go of Antonio's hand and put his bag down. He dug through it and pulled out a smaller pouch. He put the bigger bag on the table and began to walk towards the door.

Antonio followed him out the door. He was excited to go out in the daytime. He stepped out into the sunlight and he looked at the landscape. His head began to hurt, and he rapidly blinked his eyes, as they were filling up with water.

"You'll get used to this." Lovino looked at Antonio. "Look at the ground until you do."

Antonio did as he was told. His head stopped hurting and he looked back up. He regretted it. He saw the man whose house he accidentally walked in to. And the man saw him. His eyes narrowed and he began to walk towards him.

"...can we go this way?" Antonio grabbed onto Lovino's shirt and gently tugged.

"Why?" Lovino didn't notice the man until he stopped right in front of him.

"Excuse me." The man said. He was polite but an undertone in his voice made Lovino's hair stand on edge.

"...yes?"

"The man behind you. He sneaked into my house last evening and terrorized my wife and I."

"...excuse me? Who are you?"

"Giordano Bruno."

"Your name seems familiar..." Lovino knew he had heard his grandfather mention that name before. It was during one of his ramblings during dinner. "I know. You're that philosopher that believes that nothing is in the center of the universe."

"Yes, I am. Who are you?"

"I'm Lovino Vargas."

"I can't say I've heard of you." Giordano said.

"I didn't really think you would. You see, my grandfather is a man of social standings but he is also a man of favorites. I am not one of them."

"Who is your grandfather?"

"Romulus Vargas."

"Him. I know him. I've gambled with him before. He hit on my wife." Giordano frowned a little.

"He does that. My brother and I were from a prostitute and my youngest brother is from a drunken mishap." Lovino shrugged. He looked at Antonio, who was slowly becoming more uncomfortable. "I'm afraid I've been holding you up for too long. We-" he motioned to Antonio and himself. "Must go. We have errands to run."

"Oh, alright." Giordano forgot what he was going to ask Lovino about. "Have fun." He walked away.

Lovino grabbed Antonio's hand and quickly pulled him away. It wasn't a moment too soon, either. Giordano remembered what he was going to talk about and turned back around, but the two were gone.

"Now, what was that about?"

"What was what about?" Antonio tried to play dumb. He figured it might buy him some time.

Lovino was having none of that. "Why did he accuse you of breaking into his house last night?"

"...no reason." Antonio began to fidget. He averted his eyes.

"Tell me what happened." Lovino didn't sound angry.

"...I wandered out and into that place..." Antonio pointed to the forest. "Then I wandered into a house and got beat up... then I went back..."

Lovino bit his lip. "Well, you'll have to apologize to the family. But you didn't really do anything wrong, right? You didn't beat them up or anything?"

"No."

"Okay, well... if you didn't hurt them or their possessions, they can't really prove anything, right? You don't look like the type of man that would just break into someone's house for no reason. You don't have anything that you could use to break into someone's house, so..." Lovino trailed off. "If we don't bring it up, he'll let it be. He's kind of forgetful."

Antonio was glad that Lovino didn't yell at him or anything.

They began to walk further into town. Antonio's tummy began to feel weird. He didn't know why, really. His gut began to churn. He felt a hand tug at his hand and he looked down.

There was nothing there. He looked around and saw Lantana held up by her wings by a rough-looking man. Antonio's eyes widened. He didn't want to see his little friend get hurt!

"I'll be right back." Antonio wandered over to the man.

The man smiled a wicked smile. "Is she yours? I'm afraid I found her in one of my boots this morning, hiding from my dog."

Lantana began to tremble. What the man said was a lie. She was out, minding her own business after dropping Arthur's wand back off (she got an earful) and she ran into a tree. She hid in a small knot in it because she had heard someone coming. The next thing she knew, she was in a jar on a windowsill.

"Please give her back."

"Why should I?" Antonio didn't notice Lovino had followed him, nor the men closing in from all sides.

"Because she's not an object. She doesn't belong to anyone."

"Mmm... tell me when I care."

Someone tackled Antonio to the ground. His head hit off a rock and he passed out instantly.

Lovino growled and picked up a long branch. He hit a few people that had their backs turned, but the others caught him fast enough.

"You're a pretty little thing. You'll sell for a lot of money."

"Like hell I will." Lovino snarled and struggled to get free.

"Keep your mouth shut unless it's wrapped around my cock."

"You can't tell me what to do."

"I can and I will. You have no place to speak right now." The man snapped his fingers and one of his minions hit Lovino over the head with a branch. Lovino became limp and a few men picked him up.

"He's way lighter than the other one, boss."


	6. Chapter 6

It was dark when Antonio woke up. He couldn't see a thing. His head throbbed painfully as he struggled to move. He was tied up. As he fought against his bindings, he could hear muffled whines. It sounded like Lovino.

When Antonio squinted his eyes, he could just barely make out Lovino. His thin frame, also bound, and that cute little curl sticking up from the top of his head.

With everything he could muster, Antonio pulled against the ropes. They broke with a _snap_. He stood from his chair, struggling to stand on his numb legs. He made his way over to Lovino, whose eyes widened with shock at the sight of his freed companion.

Antonio yanked at the ropes that were wrapped around Lovino. They ripped. He put his arm around the small Italian to help him stand. As they got up to leave, Antonio took a look around. He saw a few figures coming into the room. They were coming toward the two of them. And quickly.

When they were a mere meter away, Antonio dropped Lovino. He felt bad as the Italian hit the ground, but he didn't have much time for regret. The men came at him. There were three of them.

Antonio didn't recognize any of them, but he knew they were bad news. Letting his instinct take control, he swung at the closest one. His fist connected with the other man's nose, and he thought he heard a faint _crack_ as blood began dripping.

He kept this up. Before he knew it, there were three unconscious men on the floor around them. He bit his lip before picking Lovino up. He held the Italian close and left the room. He was surprised that he had managed to get away.

Antonio carried Lovino far away. As far as he could get without causing trouble. Eventually, he settled with putting Lovino on the ground of a forest just outside of town. He pulled up the smaller mans shirt, and saw the bruise appearing along his spine. He felt horrible, because he knew he had caused it. Why couldn't he have gentle put him down, like anyone with a brain would have?

Lovino hadn't said a word the entire time. He was really worried about him... He usually wasn't so quiet.

"Lovino? Are you okay?" He asked, his green eyes wide with concern.

Lovino only shook his head, dismissing the other's question.

Antonio didn't know what had happened. But he knew is must have been bad to get Lovino to be like this. It so wasn't him.

He picked the Italian man up again, making his way back to their little shack. He put him on the repaired table, glad that he was light enough for it to support his weight. "Do you want anything?"

Again, Lovino shook his head. He wished he could wake up to realize it had been a dream. But he knew that wouldn't happen.

A little while passed. Neither of them said anything. Eventually, Lovino stood up. He was in pain, and he failed to hide it.

Antonio went to help him, but he shook his head at him.

"I have to get home before it gets any later. Please stay here," Lovino nearly begged.

"I will," Antonio told him. He intended to keep his word for the most part. He only left the shack to see to it that Lovino got home safely.

Antonio hurried back to the shack after watching Lovino enter his home. He sat on the floor, pulling his knees up to his chest. It was a bit cold, so he was shivering.

He sat, bored out of his mind. A while passed. He had no clue how long it had been.

A bit of movement in his peripheral caught his eye. He looked up, then froze. A small creature was on the floor, only four feet away from him.

It was an ugly, hairy thing. It had eight legs, and the same amount of chilling eyes on its huge head.

It started moving toward him. Antonio jumped up to stand and ran to the opposite corner. The creature kept moving the same direction, as if it didn't notice he had moved.

Antonio watched, slightly horrified, as it began to climb the wall. It went up the ceiling, then stopped, settling in the corner. He didn't know what it was doing, but it started doing _something_.

He didn't know, but he didn't care. He opened the door and crawled out of the shed, settling on the ground just outside the shack.

Antonio lied down, ignoring the blades of grass that rubbed against his body. He rested his head on his arms and closed his eyes.

As he was waiting for sleep to come, he didn't stop thinking about that creature. There was still so much he had to learn about this world... What other creatures would he be meeting soon? Of course, he would have to ask Lovino.

Antonio fell asleep on the ground. When he woke up to the sun on his face, he was covered in dried mud. He stood up, trying to rub the ache out of his sore muscles.

He slowly opened the door, looking around. Lovino wasn't there yet, but someone was there. That stupid bug.

It started coming down, as if on a string. Antonio squeaked and jumped back, slamming the door in the process. He ran a little bit away, climbing up into a tree. He stayed up there, grasping on to a branch.

When Lovino finally did come, he glanced into the shack before sighing and looking around. "Antonio!" He called, hoping he hadn't wandered off and gotten into trouble again. He looked up a nearby tree, only to discover his statue-turned-friend ten feet in the air.

"What are you doing up there?" He hollered.

"Uh... Hi!" Antonio offered, conjuring up a stupid grin.


	7. Chapter 7

Lovino scowled at the stupid grin on Antonio's face. "What are you doing up there?"

"...well, I saw this thing... this thing with red eyes and long legs and it was going to eat me!"

"How big was it?"

"It was the size of... of a boulder!" Antonio looked at the ground below him and gulped.

"Sure, sure." Lovino saw Antonio's predicament and began to think. "...I will be back soon." He walked away to get something that Antonio could use to get down.

While Antonio waited for Lovino to come back, he swung his legs a little. He looked around and saw a knot in the tree, and a little hole above it. He looked into the hole...

...and two large, gold eyes looked back at him. Antonio gulped. The thing blinked and so did Antonio. Antonio began to back away and heard a small cracking sound. He whimpered softly and he felt the branch below him shift down.

Lovino came back to find the branch beginning to break. He cursed softly and paced a little. "Antonio! Look at me!"

Antonio looked at Lovino. He was terrified.

"You see that big branch below you?"

Antonio nodded.

"Get on it. It can hold your weight."

Antonio shook his head.

"Do you want to fall?"

Antonio shook his head.

"Then do it."

Antonio began to shake, but he put his foot on the branch below him. It was more stable than the one he was on, so he lowered the rest of himself onto it and sighed in relief when it didn't break.

Lovino nodded. "Now, do that for the branch under you. From there, you can reach the ground."

Antonio looked back down and whimpered.

"Do you want me to come up there with you to help you?"

Antonio nodded.

Lovino joined him and wrapped an arm around him. "You can do this. Watch me." He climbed to the big branch below him and looked back up at Antonio.

Antonio copied his movements, then reached the ground. He nearly collapsed. Lovino patted his shoulder.

"Good job." He helped Antonio up, then rubbed the back of his head. "...are you hungry? We can get something to eat."

Antonio's stomach answered for him by growling. He looked up sheepishly.

"It's fine. Come on." Lovino held out his hand. Antonio looked at it for a second, then grabbed it. Lovino's hand was so warm. Antonio liked it. He could get used to it. Too bad the warmness was gone in a few seconds.

Lovino began to walk towards his shack. He grabbed a change of clothing for Antonio. "Change into these. I'll bring us some food."

"Can we go into that big area over there to eat?"

"Like a picnic?"

"Yeah!"

"I suppose I don't see why not..." Lovino nodded, then went back to his house.

"Hey, Lovi!" Feliciano smiled at his brother. Lovino nodded to him, then went into the kitchen. "How are you?"

"Fine." Lovino didn't want to keep talking to his brother. He knew that his brother got curious about things easily and the bruises on his neck would be brought up soon enough.

"...what are those marks on your neck?" And there it was.

"Nothing. Go away." He put some food in a basket, then began to walk outside.

"Tell me!"

"No. Go away. I'm meeting someone."

"Ooh! You've got a girlfriend?"

"No. A friend. Now leave." Feliciano pouted and walked away.

Lovino got Antonio and they went to an empty area. He pulled out the food. "Here."

Antonio took it. "Thank you!"

"You're welcome. Now eat." Lovino took a big bite of his bread.

"Lovi! You've never introduced me to your friend! What's his name?"

"Oh my fucking god..." Lovino groaned and hit his palm off of his hand.

"I'm Antonio. Who are you?"

"I'm Feliciano. I'm Lovino's brother."

"He didn't tell me he had a brother..." Antonio pouted. He wondered why Lovino had left a big part of his life out when he was talking to him. Now that he thought about it, he wondered why Lovino didn't talk about his life at all...

"Oh. Who are you?" Feliciano was curious as to where this handsome stranger had come from.

"I used to be a stat-" Lovino slapped his hand over Antonio's mouth.

"He's from... Spain. He's new. I was showing him around and he got hungry. Isn't that right?"

Antonio felt that it would be best to just go along with what Lovino said and he nodded. Lovino pulled his hand off of Antonio's mouth.

Feliciano seemed content with that. "Can I join you two?"

"I can't really stop you, can I?" Lovino said to no one. Feliciano sat beside Lovino and grabbed a piece of bread.

"How did you two come to meet?"

"I was walking around and I bumped into him. He seemed to be lost so I decided to help him."

"You're usually not nice to people, Lovi! I'm glad you decided to change!"

"Thanks." Lovino said dryly. He didn't seem to be offended by it, though, as he knew it was true.

"Unless you want something in return." Feliciano winked at Lovino, making his face turn red.

"What-I-what-what makes you think I want something in return?" Lovino turned a bright shade of red.

Feliciano laughed. "I was messing with you! But really. Why did you decided to change?"

Lovino shrugged. "I don't know."

Antonio smiled. "I'm just irresistible."

Feliciano shook his head ever-so-slightly. Lovino didn't shake his head at all.

"You didn't deny it, Lovi!"

"Shut the fuck up!" Lovin stood. "I'm going to check on my statues. I'll be back."

"...it's not like they got up and walked out, right?" Feliciano laughed.

'If he knew...' Lovino thought. "You two better stay right here."

He didn't think they would, though. Two idiots, one big city and no parental supervision.

What could go wrong?


	8. Chapter 8

"Do you want to play a game?" Feliciano asked after making sure his twin was far enough away and out of earshot.

"Uh... Okay. What game?" Antonio asked excitedly, happy that Feliciano actually wanted to play with him. Lovino would never play with him. He still preferred Lovino, though. Feliciano had this peculiar vibe about him, like he would turn crazy at any moment. Also, the way he constantly squinted his eyes was weird.

"It's easy!" The Italian exclaimed gleefully. "Even I can understand it. Lovino always says that if I can understand something, a brick could understand." The obvious insult flew over the young man's head.

"I tag you, like this," He continued, tapping the other man's shoulder and letting out an enthusiastic, "Tag~!"

He ran a little ways away before turning back to holler, "Now you have to tag me back!" He kept running, leaping every stone in the path from memory. He had been playing in that area his whole life, so he could have been considered to have the upper hand.

Antonio ran after him, stumbling a bit. His strong legs gave him an advantage over the Italian, but it didn't help much when he was so clumsy.

Both were off, running into the town weaving in between buildings. They tagged each other, playing what was seeming to be an endless round of the game. The odd stares didn't bother them, nor did the disgusted grimaces of the older people who were disgusted that grown men would act like such children.

As Feliciano tried to keep away from Antonio, he turned a sharp corner and felt his face crash against a hard chest before he fell to the ground. He looked up and caught sight of a confused-looking Romulus looking down at him.

"Nonno!" He said happily, before lunging in between his grandfather's legs to avoid Antonio's touch. "Protect me!" He giggled playfully, while Romulus tried to think if he knew Antonio or not.

"Boys! Cut it out." He said firmly, grabbing his grandson by the arm and pulling him to where he was standing up. He did the same to Antonio. "What is going on here? And who are you?"

"I'm Antonio!" Antonio told the older man, not picking up on Romulus's obvious dislike of him.

"And what are you doing with my precious grandson, _Antonio_?" He asked harshly, watching the green-eyed man's face fall.

"We were just playing a game, Nonno," Feliciano offered. "He wasn't hurting me. I'm okay!"

"This buffoonery is unacceptable. I expect better from you, Feli. As for this one, I don't want you two hanging around each other."

"Antonio is a friend of Lovino's, though. We were just playing while Lovino went to check on his... something."

"I don't care which of you started hanging around this idiot first. I just want it to stop. Neither of you are to be around this one, are we clear, Feli?"

The younger Italian lip popped out in a huffy pout, but he just sighed. "Yes, Nonno. We're clear."

"Good. Now, wipe that dirt off of your clothes. We are going home now. And as for _you_ ," Romulus said, turning to face Antonio, "Don't you even think about following us home. I'm not afraid to kill a little shit-stain like you."

"Yes, sir..." Antonio said, starting to get scared and tremble slightly. He started to walk away, head down, and made his way back to where Lovino's shed was.

He opened the door and came inside, not even bothering to give Lovino a happy greeting. "Your grandpa is mean," He simply said, tears still welled up in his eyes. "He yelled at me. He said he would kill me. And he yelled at Feliciano."

"That's how he is, Antonio," Lovino said, though on the inside he was ready to kill. How dare that bastard upset Feliciano and Antonio. "He probably thinks your going to ruin his precious little angel." He got madder, picking up a chisel and whacking away at a spare piece of marble.

He hit it hard, and accidentally took off a whole corner of the block. "Oops," He said simply, throwing the tools back down on the table.

"He said he doesn't want us to be seen together anymore, Lovino! He doesn't want us to be friends..."

"He doesn't pay much attention to me anyway, Antonio. Our friendship will be fine. It's not like he cares much anyway. Most of the time, he's too drunk to give a rat's ass about anything."

Antonio went silent. He wished there was something, _anything_ , he could do to help Lovino out. But he knew getting near Romulus would make matters worse, if anything.

"How did you run into him, anyway?" Lovino asked.

"Oh... well, Feliciano and I were playing this cool game called 'tag' and Feliciano ran into him. Literally, he ran into his chest and fell on his butt. It was kind of funny! But, then... not so much."

"You idiots. I told you to do one simple thing. And what did you do?" Lovino said, not at all surprised.

"The exact opposite?" Antonio offered, feeling oddly proud of himself when the Italian nodded in agreement.

"Why is it so hard for you two to stand in one spot for more than ten seconds?"

The former statue only shrugged, not really picking up on Lovino's irritation. "It's boring to just stand in one spot. Moving around is better. Besides, you were taking too long to get back. We had to entertain ourselves _somehow_!"

"And you couldn't play a game that didn't involve running around the city?"

Antonio shrugged. "It was Feliciano's idea, not mine!"

Lovino rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I have to go home before dinner. _Stay here_. I'm serious."

"Yes, sir!" Antonio said as he watched the Italian exit the shed.

* * *

 **Ha, ha, Lukas. I updated earlier than _you_ did last week.** **:)**


	9. Chapter 9

**I really hate where I live. One day, it's 15 degrees and snowy and the next it's 64 degrees with no clouds in sight. Thanks to that, I had a 101.6 degree fever. Also, my Internet went out. ~ Lukas**

* * *

Lovino was worried all evening about Antonio. He knew that the curious statue wouldn't stay in the shack. He just hoped that he didn't get into too much trouble. He thought, from past experiences, that Antonio would surely leave.

Antonio didn't. He actually stayed in the shack. He had had enough exploring for a while. He looked for a nice place to rest and found an empty corner. He curled up in it and closed his eyes, as he didn't know what else to do.

Lovino sighed and ate dinner. Even Feliciano could tell that there was something wrong.

"Lovi? Are you okay?"

"Yes."

"Is this about Antonio? I didn't want Nonno to meet him... even I knew that that would not end well."

"No, this isn't about Antonio." Lovino got up. He had only eaten half of his dinner. He went to his bedroom and packed a bag. He decided he was going to stay at his shack for a few days to clear his head. He knew that a few days with Antonio would be good for him- his happy go lucky attitude would help him.

The next morning, he went to the shack, expecting to see nothing but rubble there- or no Antonio. Or both. But it was still standing and Antonio was looking out the window. Antonio began to wave quickly at him.

Lovino opened the door and sighed. "Yes?"

"There was an odd shadow last night that was looking around here. It looked through the window."

Lovino sighed. "What did the 'shadow' look like?"

"It was blonde, with blue eyes. It seemed like it was trying to sneak around here."

"I see..." Lovino sighed. He didn't know what to do about it.

"What are we going to do today?" Antonio knew Lovino had to have something in store for that day.

"I was thinking that we could get you used to the city." Lovino looked at Antonio.

"That sounds okay to me!" Antonio was fine with anything, really. He smiled at Lovino. Lovino looked away and he felt his face heat up.

"Good." He put his bag down.

"What's that for?"

"I'm staying here for a few days."

"Yay!" Antonio smiled. He wouldn't be lonely!

"Do you want breakfast?" Lovino looked back up at Antonio. Antonio nodded.

"Can we have some of that sweet stuff that we had yesterday? You know, the brown stuff?"

"Chocolate?"

"Yeah!"

"Sure. Come with me."

Antonio followed Lovino. He watched that cute little curl bob when Lovino walked.

"Is that natural?" Antonio pointed at Lovino's curl.

"Yes, it is. Feliciano has one, remember? So does my youngest brother, Angelo."

"Oh, yeah!" Antonio thought back to when he saw Feliciano. He did, indeed, have a hair curl.

"We got it from our mother. Before she passed away."

"If you don't mind me asking... how did she die?" Antonio didn't know how to read the atmosphere, obviously.

Lovino bit his lip and tried to steel his nerves. He usually could when talking about his mother, but... with Antonio, he felt like he could let his feelings out. "She was our step-mother. She died a little after Angelo was born. She was heading to another city and she got mugged.." His voice cracked halfway through the sentence. He didn't look at Antonio.

"Oh... lo siento..." Antonio didn't know what to do. He knew he should comfort Lovino in some way, but he didn't know how. He did the only thing he knew to do. He hugged him.

Lovino stiffened, as the only person he was used to affection from was Feliciano. Feliciano's hugs were usually more forceful than this.

Antonio didn't let him go. He didn't know what Lovino was going through, but he had a feeling that it was not good. He kissed his forehead, because it felt natural.

Lovino blushed a little, then leaned on Antonio. He let his emotions get the best of him, something that wasn't used to. He cried.

They weren't in a crowded place, but there were a few people around. They left the two alone, as they felt that they would be intruding on something if they tried to talk to them.

Lovino got off of Antonio after a few seconds. He wiped his eyes. "Sorry. Are you still hungry?"

Antonio nodded.

They went and ate.

Later that night, Lovino set out a few blankets for himself and Antonio. "I'll leave these here after tonight. It'll be more comfortable than sleeping on the cold, hard floor." He looked at Antonio. "Does that sound okay?"

"It does, thank you." Antonio smiled and lied on the blankets. It was more comfortable than sleeping on the floor. He fell asleep quicker than usual.

Lovino stayed awake for a while. He hoped to catch a glimpse of the 'blonde shadow' that Antonio had described.

He set a few traps and lied back down. He fell asleep quicker than usual as well. He had shifted to where his back was against Antonio's before he had fallen asleep.

Antonio rolled over when he had fallen asleep and pulled Lovino closer for warmth. Lovino didn't mind.

After a few hours of being asleep, the figures outside of Lovino's shack began to whisper.

"Why do you want to steal one of the statues from here? You have enough money to buy anything you want!"

"Because. The statues here are not for sale but they are amazing." He began to pick the lock on the door.

"Why do you care so much about these things?"

The other shrugged and stepped inside.

He set off a trap. He got hung upside down by his ankle.

The other began to laugh, which woke Lovino up. He jumped up and grabbed a chisel.

"Who the fuck are you?!"

"Calm down, kesese!"

"Don't tell me to calm down! Some weird frog and his fucking marshmallow friend just tried to break into my house!"

"Okay, well, lower your voice. I'll tell you what we were doing if you let him go."

"No. Tell me who you are, right now."

"Well, I'm Gilbert Beilschmidt. This dummkopf is Francis Bonnefoy. Put the chisel down and we'll tell you more."


	10. Chapter 10

"Don't worry, Antonio. There's no monster. Just dumbasses." Lovino said, lowering in the chisel. He still kept it in his hand. "What are you doing here?"

The former statue stood, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and taking in the sight of the other two men.

"Well, you see," The Frenchman began, "Gilbert and I are art critics. And we heard about your lovely sculptures and were just _dying_ to see them for ourselves."

Gilbert looked a bit skeptical. Was this really the best approach?

"And instead of waiting until the morning and explaining this, you had to look in the window and be all creepy?" It was bad when Antonio could point out your bad logic.

"Well, we had to be certain it was you. We didn't want to look stupid."

"You look pretty damn stupid right now." Lovino wasn't buying this one bit. "If you two really are art critics, what do you critique for?"

"We own a gallery together." Francis said quickly, throwing an arm around the albino.

"We do?" Gilbert asked, looking confused.

"We do," Francis said, squeezing his shoulder.

"What's a gallery?" Antonio furrowed his brow.

Lovino ignored the brunette's question. "A gallery? How would the two of _you_ own a gallery?" Galleries were really rare, and only the richest of the rich could really afford to own one. A good one, anyway. Then again, they did look like fairly wealthy men. Could this be true? Probably not, but it was worth the risk. What did he have to lose?

"We founded it a few years back. We have traveled a long way to see your fabulous works. All the way from Nice."

"You came from Nice to visit a little shack in the middle of nowhere? Yeah, right." Lovino rolled his eyes. There's no way an opportunity like that would ever come along for someone like him.

"We did, as a matter of fact. Word of your statues has traveled quickly ever since your grandfather accidentally went public with it. You are quite talented," Francis said, hoping this would somehow work itself out and end up with him and Gilbert not in jail.

"We are opening up another gallery here, in Rome," Gilbert chimed in, trying to help.

"Then can I see this gallery?" The Italian asked.

"Well, um..." The Frenchman glared at the albino. "We haven't opened it to the public yet. We are just now gathering art for it. Lovely pieces like these." He gestured to the several completed statues around them. "It's not everyday you find such beautiful craftsmanship."

"Nothing in here is for sale..." Lovino hesitated. If these two were telling the truth, this could be a big break for him. "If you can prove that this gallery exists, though, I could make you something for it."

"You got it." With that, Francis grabbed his friend's hand and pulled him out of the shack. Once they had put a safe distance between themselves and Lovino, he turned to the Prussian. "What the hell? We aren't building a gallery here!"

"We don't have a gallery in Nice!" The albino responded. "You're the one who started this big lie! What did you want me to do? I had no idea what I was supposed to say to that!"

"Well, now, if we want to stay out of trouble, we have to build a gallery here. Nice going."

"This is your fault, Francey-Pants."

They started to walk. It was dark and cold, but it didn't affect them much. "How are we going to go about this?" Francis eventually asked. "What other art will we be able to gather in time?"

"You're the filthy rich one. You tell me."

"I suppose I could use that old house that my father owned... It's about time _something_ was done with it." Francis thought for a second. "As for the rest of the art, I have several good friends who are artists. I'm sure they could whip up something and I could buy it super cheap. But they have to make it good if we want him to buy this..."

"Wouldn't it have just been easier to use this lie from the start and ask in the morning?"

"It would have been easier to just steal them, but how was I supposed to know he would be sleeping in that shack? I mean, he has a house. Surely his family isn't _that_ bad, right?"

Gilbert only shrugged. "Could be. Romulus isn't the kindest man in the country."

"Help me clean this out," Francis told him, opening the door to the old house and lying eyes on the massive collection of junk his father had stored in there. It was more than most whole neighborhoods owned, that was for sure.

Gilbert wanted to cry. "Why do I have to do all of this because you were stupid?"

"Because you're my best friend and you love me. And I would have your back if you did something equally stupid. Now quit your whining and get to work!"

"What are you going to do, Goldilocks?"

"Supervise, of course."

"Idiots," Lovino groaned. "What were they thinking? For gallery owners, they aren't very professional."

"Are you sure they really own a gellery?" Antonio asked.

Lovino chuckled softly at the mistake. "Gallery," He corrected. "And I wasn't buying it at first. But they seemed awfully sure of themselves for it to be a lie. Especially since they promised I could see it."

"What if they just take the trip back to Nice?"

"Then I gain nothing. But I don't lose anything either." Lovino almost smiled as he saw the light blush that appeared on Antonio's face. He moved a fresh block of marble onto the table and picked up a chisel. "Now, come here. I want to teach you how to sculpt."


	11. Chapter 11

"Francis Bonnefoy, you are lucky you're my best friend," A certain albino sighed as he finished clearing out a very full storage house. "If you were anybody else, I would kill you."

"...Have I ever mentioned how much I appreciate you?" The Frenchman replied, trying to kiss up. He rather liked his head and wanted it to stay firmly attached to the rest of him.

"Well, what do we do now?" Gilbert asked.

"Not to worry. While you were working with that storage, I got us a bit of art to add to our 'gallery'," Francis explained, gesturing to the various paintings and several statues he had gathered. "Who knew artists could be so difficult to work with? They all tried to keep upping the price."

The Prussian rolled his eyes. "Let's just get these in place before this comes back to bite us in our asses."

With that, the pair set to work. They set up all of the art, hanging the paintings and getting the statues into position.

Of course, by the end of it, Gilbert was feeling rather homicidal. Or suicidal. Or both. He wasn't sure.

"Don't put it there. Move it to the right."

"You just told me to move it to the left!"

"Well, know I'm telling you to move it to the right." Francis smiled softly as the other man rolled his eyes, but did what he had requested.

"You are a sadist, Francis." Gilbert said as he stood back to see how the statue in its new spot looked. "Absolutely cruel."

"Oh, amoureux..." Francis whispered, wrapping his arms around the other man. "What do you say I make it up to you?"

Gilbert turned around, only to have his lips meet the Frenchman's. He kissed back, tangling his fingers in his lover's long hair. As he felt Francis bite his lip, he pulled softly, earning something that could have passed as a purr from the other.

"You're lucky you aren't bent over that chair yet." He said, biting the blond's neck.

Francis only moaned before the pushing slightly taller man away. "Not right now, love. We have work to do."

"We could just... leave it. Not ever bring it back up and hope that Lovino forgets about it." Gilbert held Francis close to him. He rested his chin on Francis's shoulder

Francis shuddered as Gilbert's breath hit his neck. Temptation was a sadistic mistress. He stepped away from Gilbert to stop himself from doing something that would slow them down. "Non. Not yet. We have to finish this, first."

"But I don't want to..." He whined. He sat where he was and grabbed onto Francis's leg. "I'm not moving."

Francis tried to move with Gilbert on his leg, but trying to walk with a grown man attached to you isn't easy. He barely moved an inch before sighing.

"What will make you work?"

"...cuddles."

"After you work, you'll get cuddles."

"No, cuddles now." Gilbert was so demanding.

Francis rolled his eyes. "Ten minutes."

"Twenty."

"Twelve."

"Eighteen."

"Thirteen."

"Fifteen."

"Fine." Francis sat beside Gilbert and began to cuddle him. After the fifteen minutes were up, they got back to working. It was well into the night before either of them got another break.

Gilbert passed out quickly, due to the fact that he'd been doing most of the heavy lifting. Francis made sure everything was in order, then he lied with Gilbert.

In the morning, Francis got them breakfast. Gilbert scarfed his down without breathing. He leaned back in his chair and patted his stomach. He smiled at Francis. "I can't believe we're actually about to pull this off."

"I know. Just don't say anything about this. Let me do the talking."

Gilbert mock-saluted him and rolled his eyes.

Francis got up and took his plate to the kitchen. "So, do you want to have him over before lunch or after lunch?" Gilbert asked.

"Is all you can think about food?" Francis asked. The albino seemed to have a bottomless pit for a stomach.

"No. I sometimes think of beer."

Francis harrumphed. "I see where I stand."

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding." Gilbert went up behind Francis and wrapped his arms around him. Francis leaned on him.

"You'd better be."

"I'll invite Lovino over." Gilbert let go of Francois and got ahold of Lovino. They set a time.

Lovino looked at Antonio. "I want you to come with me. Looked at all of the statues that they show and see if they have a name engraved on them."

"Okay!" Antonio nodded.

Lovino knew that Michelangelo didn't put his name on his works but some other sculptors might.

He and Antonio went to Francis's 'supposed' art gallery.

"Don't touch anything, though. I don't want him trying to get me arrested if they're the real thing."

Francis opened the door and let the two in. "I'm glad you two could make it! If you'll follow me, I'll show you the way."

Lovino followed Francis to the art gallery and Antonio followed Lovino. He looked in awe of some of the other statues. He couldn't believe that he used to be the same way. The other statues looked a little less lifelike than he guessed he did, though.

"Beautiful, aren't they?" Francis had seen Antonio staring. He smirked a little, as he knew he had him fooled. Antonio nodded and Francis looked towards Lovino.

That man was a whole other story.

He obviously knew quite a bit about sculpting and could tell a fake statue from a real one. Even the best forgery couldn't fool him.

And, just Francis's luck, Michelangelo stepped in the door. "May I have my-"

Gilbert dove in front of him and slapped a hand over his mouth. "Of course you can have your plate set back! Come with me!" He pulled him into the other room.

"What was that?" Asked Lovino.

Antonio shrugged.

* * *

 **Hey, Lukas here. I'm sorry I'm updating so late. Matthias wrote the first 300 or so words of this story, as I'm in a musical and I just now got around to writing this chapter.**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Matthias here. Sorry it's late. I don't have an excuse, I'm just lazy.**

 **Sorry, Lukas. Please don't kick my butt. I know I'm irresponsible. But you still love me, right?**

* * *

Francis couldn't believe that Gilbert said something that stupid. 'A plate set.' He was dating an idiot.

"I hope you have an idea of what 'plate set' you want to show him. Because I did _not_ get one of those."

"I'm sorry! I panicked! You know, we wouldn't be in this situation if somebody didn't have to say we had a gallery. We could have made a run for it. We could be back in France by now!"

"Listen, Gilbitch, you can't turn everything around on me like that."

The albino rolled his eyes. "Let's just agree that we got into this together and we have to get out of it the same way."

"Fine. I think there's an old china set somewhere in here. _Find it_."

"Yes, sir." Gilbert mock-saluted, the ran off to search the building. He weaved in between the few guests, hoping they would pull this off. He wasn't too thrilled about the idea of going to jail.

"Lovino, are you sure this is a real gallery?" Antonio asked as he looked around. He had never been to a real gallery, but something about the whole place seemed off and forced. "I don't think these guys are very trustworthy."

The Italian shook his head. "No. I don't completely believe them. But they promised a gallery, and they somewhat held true to that promise. I just wish I knew what was going on. Any fool can tell that it is something..."

As he saw the much more talented artist enter, he smelled a rat. The nervous cover-up from Gilbert didn't help either. Sure, he didn't trust these two one bit. But they were the closest thing to an opportunity that had never come knocking at his door. More like breaking into his shed, but oh well.

"How much did you say I would be paid for a statue?" Lovino turned back to Francis.

The blonde simply held up a fat stack of cash. Of course, the man was loaded and would use that amount for toilet paper. But it was more money than Lovino usually saw in a month. If that was what it would get him, then he would take the chance, real gallery or not.

Gilbert pulled Michelangelo to the side. "Sir, I know we didn't exactly ask for permission to use your art. But if we could just borrow it for a little longer, that would be great. As soon as my friend and I pull this trick off, we'll give you back your stuff and be on our merry way back to France. What do you say? Please?" He held out the china set for the sake of making the earlier lie believable to the others.

The old artist simply raised an eyebrow. "And why would I lend my art to such a dishonest pair of low-life-"

"We'll pay you."

"Well, why didn't you just say so? Have it as long as you need it!"

Gilbert sighed in relief. That was one problem that was taken care of.

He walked behind his boyfriend, whispering, "Ol' Mikey's expecting some dough for the art."

When he saw Francis nod, he went to help some other viewers. He approached a friendly-looking man.

"Hello, sir. I hope you are doing well on this fine day. Is there anything that I, your awesome connoisseur of all things artistic, can help you with today?"

"Why, yes there is actually. Could I possibly have your name?" The man asked.

"Gilbert Beilschmidt, alcoholic extraordinaire," Gilbert answered, holding out his hand. "And you are?"

"Basilio Arata. Would you mind telling me where you got all of these pieces?" Basilio was inspecting the works rather intently.

Gilbert, being Gilbert, didn't think much of this. "Oh, you know, just a few here and there. We paid a nice price for our collection of Michelangelo pieces." He had to admit that he was bragging a little bit, but he was proud of what he and Francis had thrown together in such a short time.

"Mmm." He narrowed his eyes at Gilbert. "That's rather valuable for such a little known gallery. How much was paid for the Michelangelo works?"

"A fair bit, I'll tell you that much." Gilbert still wasn't catching onto the fact that something was quite obviously not 100% right there. Basilio was rather nosy to just be an average viewer and art-lover.

"And how much is 'a fair bit'?"

"Quite a lot," The Prussian was beginning to get nervous. What was this guy on about?

Thankfully, Francis came to his boyfriend's rescue. "Bonjour, my good sir. I trust that you are enjoying our little display here."

"Oh, of course I am. And I do dare say that it is _quite_ the collection. I cannot help but wonder where you may have acquired all of this?"

Gilbert felt offended. Was he not trustworthy enough? Did he come off as so bad that he had to ask a _Frenchman_?

"We have a little bit of everywhere here. That part was from the German kingdoms, we have some English works, some French items over there." Francis gestured to each collection as he referenced it. Yeah, Francis was definitely better at this than Gilbert was. "And then these little gems are from right here in Italy."

"I see, I see. Well, I hate to say it, but I am afraid I might have to bring you two in." Basilio said simply.

"Bring us in?" Francis asked. "Whatever do you mean?"

"What I mean is I might have to bring you into jail. For theft charges. You didn't pay for any of this."


	13. Chapter 13

**Yes, Matthias. I do. I don't know why, but I do.**

* * *

Gilbert knew that they were screwed. No amount of smooth talking nor lie making would fool this detective. They were in too deep to get out now.

Francis smiled at the detective. "Now, why would you think that, good sir?"

Gilbert had a feeling that Francis could talk his way out of this. He could talk his way out of nearly anything. There was one time that the two broke into an actual art gallery. The police had caught them and an hour later they were sent on their way with a few paintings tucked under Francis's arm.

Basilio looked at the sculptures. "Michelangelo's works are hard to find. To have been able to get so many of them... and some of these haven't even been revealed to the public."

Francis chuckled softly. "I can see your concern, sir. But, as great as your logic is... We happen to know Michelangelo himself."

"Sure you do. Why would Michelangelo know nobodies like you two?"

"Nobodies? I'm offended!" Francis harrumphed and crossed his arms over his chest. "Why, I could introduce you to him right now!"

"Then go get him."

"Gilbert, go." Francis knew it would be best for him to stay and talk to the detective.

Gilbert went and got Michelangelo for the detective. He whispered to him their situation and how dire it was for him to act like he knew the two.

"Is that all you need?"

"Ja. We'll pay you extra for your troubles, sir."

Michelangelo took one look at the detective and scowled. "Great. Him."

Basilio raised an eyebrow at Francis. "When is your friend going to come back with Michelangelo? Or did he leave you here to take the blame?"

"No, he didn't. There he is right now."

Gilbert walked in with Michelangelo right beside him. Basilio frowned.

"Well, I'll be damned... They weren't lying."

"I haven't seen you in a while, Mr. Arata."

Gilbert looked at Francis. "They know each other?"

"Apparently."

"Mr. Arata was an assistant of mine. He quit not too long after he started."

"I see everything's in order, then. I shall be taking my leave." Basilio went to leave when he saw someone familiar.

"Lovino Vargas. I never would have thought that you'd be the kind of person to come to an art gallery."

Lovino looked towards the voice. "...oh... yes. I'm a sculptor myself. They came to me and asked if they could buy a piece from me."

"Who is this?" Basilio pointed toward the man that was standing by Lovino. He seemed to be hanging onto every word that they were saying and it kind of freaked him out.

"This is a friend of mine. Antonio, meet Basilio Arata. He knows my grandfather. Basilio, meet Antonio... Carriedo."

Antonio's face went pale. "Lovi, he knows your grandfather. What if he goes and tells him that you've been hanging around me?" He whispered, not loud enough for the detective to hear.

"If we don't give him a reason to, then he won't." Lovino gave Basilio the benefit of the doubt on this one. Basilio was a spur-of-the-moment kind of guy.

"It's been awhile since I've spoken to your grandfather. Maybe I should stop by and talk to him a bit. See you later." Basilio left.

Lovino clenched his fists. "Fuck. We should leave." He went up to Francis. "Listen, thank you for having us here. We need to go. You know where I live, if you want to get ahold of me about that piece."

"Are you sure you can't stay?"

"I'm quite certain." Lovino and Antonio left, leaving Francis and Gilbert wondering whether they should ask Lovino about the piece sooner or later. They chose later.

Over the course of the next week, a few things happened.

One: Antonio got body hair. It began to grow on his legs, making him feel itchy. Then a stubble began to form on his face. His armpits were next, and last was his chest. He didn't know what to do, but he didn't want to ask Lovino about it because he was embarrassed.

Two: Lovino turned nineteen. He celebrated his birthday with a bottle of wine (stolen from Romulus's storage) and a lot of sleeping. He celebrated the day after by having a hangover.

Three: Francis and Gilbert got ahold of him for a sculpture. They sent him requirements- the sculpture couldn't be over 7 feet, it couldn't be more than 5 feet wide and it had to have roses all over it. And it had to be a naked lady.

Lovino didn't have a lot of practice with sculpting bare women, but he figured he could give it a try. He just needed something to work off of...

"Antonio, stay in that room. Don't come out until morning, got it?"

"Yes, sir." Antonio retreated into the room Lovino was talking about. Lovino put something in front of the door after Antonio shut it to make sure that he couldn't get out, then got a bit of extra cash. He waited for someone that he knew would be there. Well, he didn't know the person exactly but he knew what kind of person would be there.

"Hey there, hot stuff." Right on time.

He turned towards the voice. He saw a young woman with wide hips, big breasts and a thin waist. _Perfect._

"Ciao, bella." He wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "I'll offer you a deal. Come with me and you get..." He pulled out the money he had with him. "All of this. Okay?"

The woman smirked. "Sure."

He led her back to his shack. She eyed it warily. She was beginning to get a bit scared- he could have been a murderer for all she knew.

He closed the door behind him, then pulled up a chair. "Strip."

"Ex...cuse me?"

"You heard me. Or are you too embarrassed to do so?"

The woman took off her clothing, then put it on the floor beside her. Lovino lit a candle.

"Sit on the chair."

The woman did. Lovino positioned her the way he wanted.

"Now stay there."

The woman was so confused, but she did as she was told.

Lovino pulled out a chisel and drug over a huge block of stone. He began to chip away at it. He only got a rough outline of the woman before the sun came up. "Listen. I'll give you the same amount tomorrow night if you come back."

The woman got dressed. "...alright..." She left.

That night, Lovino locked Antonio in the room. He left him a book and a ball to play with- he knew that those items would keep him entertained for hours.

The woman came back that night. And the night after that. That continued for nearly a week before Lovino was in no need of her anymore.

"You don't need to come back tomorrow. I'm nearly finished. All I need to add are a few details that you don't need to be here for me to put."

The woman didn't come back that night.

Antonio was allowed to stay out.

"Was that what you were working on while I was locked in the room?" Lovino nodded. "Oh, cool! Is that for Francis and Gilbert?"

Lovino nodded. "We'll be able to get it to them tomorrow. Can you lift this?"

Antonio tried and succeeded to lift up the statue.

"Good. You'll have to carry it tomorrow. Go get some rest."

When Antonio woke, the statue was finished. Lovino put his name on the statue's base, along with its' name. 'Maria.'

Lovino opened up their door to find Gilbert and Francis locking lips. Antonio nearly dropped the statue.

Francis and Gilbert stopped and looked at the two men looking in their door.

"...oh... you finished it..." Francis rubbed the back of his neck.

"...two men can be together?" Antonio asked.

"Of course they can." Francis smiled at the two. "Now, come in. We'll find a place to put that statue and I'll give you the money."

* * *

 **Lukas here. I would love it if we could get a few more reviews- Matthias gets really cranky if we don't.**


	14. Chapter 14

**I waited until the last day again. My stupid procrastination. Lukas isn't happy with me. (I love you, darling) :(**

* * *

"I thought only a man and a woman could be together," Antonio said. Really, this news was great for him. He'd been having some interesting thoughts about Lovino.

"Two men can be together," Francis explained, "But you have to be really careful. People don't like when two men are together. They think it's wrong. Gilly and I have to be very careful to hide our relationship. Anyway, just set it right there." The Frenchman motioned to the center of the room. "It will definitely tie the room together, do you not agree?"

"I thought we agreed that it would be more to the left," Gilbert said, looking at his boyfriend. "You know, right before they brought it over."

"No, no. We agreed that it would be in the center."

"Uh, no. To the left."

Antonio went to move it to the left, only the be stopped by Francis. "Don't listen to him, _Antoine_. Gil, it is going here."

"Nope. To the left, Tonio."

Poor Antonio didn't know what to do. "Guys, can we just make a decision?"

"We _have_ made a decision. I'm right and dear Gilbert is wrong. Keep it where it is."

"You have that wrong, blondie. Scoot it over."

Francis glared at his lover. "Gilbert, this is my gallery."

"Um, _our_ gallery."

"You know, if your dick was as big as this attitude you're getting, we may not be having any issues." Francis smirked, pinching Gilbert's cheek. "Leave it where it is, Antonio."

Gilbert gave up the fight, mumbling something about size.

Francis pulled a healthy wad of cash out of his coat and tossed it into Lovino's waiting hands. As the Italian flipped through, he looked anything but unsatisfied.

"This is more than I usually make in a month..." He mumbled.

Antonio watched his cute little hair curl bob and smiled softly. "That's good, right?"

"Very," Lovino nodded. "Very good. If I can keep this money a secret from my grandfather, that is. He would steal it to buy alcohol or something else he doesn't need," He mumbled.

Antonio instinctively reached out to put an arm around Lovino, but his attempt faltered. He didn't think Lovino would want that. That was, until Lovino took his arm and put it in its originally intended location. "I will be okay, Antonio."

As the two of them walked out of the gallery, Francis sighed in relief.

"Gil, we actually got away with it." He rested his head on his boyfriend's shoulder.

"We did." Gilbert smiled a little. "Now, what was that about my dick?"

Francis simply raised an eyebrow. "You heard me. And I meant it."

"We'll just have to see about that, won't we, blondie?" Gilbert threw him over a table.

"Don't hold back."

"Lovino, am I going to have to live in the shack forever? Just because your nonno doesn't like me?" Antonio hated the thought of living in the shack forever. It got cold, there were so many bugs, and it was lonely and boring. No wonder he had wandered off and gotten into trouble so often!

"No. That's only a temporary thing, Tonio." Lovino sighed. He really wanted to get Antonio out of that shack as soon as he could. And he would as soon as he got the money to move out and get a place of his own. Of course, he could have some help from Antonio. Yes, he would have to train him to have a job, but how hard could that be?

"Thank you for everything, Lovino." The statement seemed to come out of nowhere. Yes, he had always seemed grateful, but Lovino had never been thanked so sincerely. From anybody.

"It's... It's nothing." The Italian was a bit shocked. "You don't have to thank me. You have helped me, too. In more ways than you might think."

"How?" Antonio was like a little kid, eyes wide with curiosity.

"Don't worry about it." Lovino huffed a little. "I don't think you'd understand."

"I would! I'm smart!"

Lovino couldn't help but chuckle. Antonio was just too cute.

"I'll tell you later, Tonio."

"But..."

"Hey, go look at that!" Lovino pointed out a nearby butterfly, just fluttering on its merry way.

"Ooh!" Antonio ran over to it. He laughed as he watched it fly around. He tried to catch it. No avail.

Lovino actually smiled as he watched him. He thought back to when he had first found Antonio alive. He wasn't sure he had done the right thing by taking care of him. But, watching the former statue play, Lovino knew he had made the right choice. And he didn't regret a second of what he had done by keeping Antonio around.

"You brought a statue to life? A bloody _statue_? To _life_?" Arthur yelled.

Lantana shook in the corner. Her friend really wasn't happy with her. Well, she had stolen his wand and fled the country. And brought a statue to life, but... Details, details. What was the big deal, anyway? It was just one statue. At least she hadn't flown into a museum and brought everything in there to life. That would have been bad. But, really, the Brit was seriously overreacting.

Arthur sighed. "You have to fix this, Lantana. Get out of the mess that _you_ created."

"What do you mean?" She asked. It was very quiet, but Arthur had grown used to the fairies' soft voices. "He's not hurting anybody..."

"We can't have just revived statues running around! We have to keep the existence of magic a secret. _Fix this_."

"...How?"

"The solution is simple, dear." Arthur stated, crossing the room to face the fairy. He leaned down, getting close to her. "Change. Him. _Back._ "


	15. Chapter 15

Lovino watched as Antonio chased the butterfly. He chased it over to a river and... fell right into it. He sunk, well, like a rock.

Lovino's eyes widened as he watched the former statue tried to swim back to the surface. He was having difficulty, as he did not know _how to swim._ Lovino took off his shirt and dove in after him. He brought them both up with a few powerful kicks and Antonio gasped for breath. Lovino brought him over to the bank and lied him on the ground.

"Antonio, please, please be okay." Lovino murmured before gently putting his forehead to Antonio's.

He could barely feel Antonio's breath hitting his face. He knew he had to do something, and quick.

He began to press onto Antonio's chest. He didn't know why, but it seemed to be the right thing to do to him. Antonio began to cough up water until he rolled over and threw up. Lovino rubbed his back.

Antonio rolled back onto his back and looked at Lovino. Lovino cupped Antonio's cheek and stroked it with his thumb.

"...did you... save me?" Antonio asked Lovino.

"I wouldn't say I _saved_ you, but..." Lovino stroked Antonio's hair.

It felt nice to Antonio.

Lovino got up after a moment. "We should be heading back."

"Sure." They went back to the shack. Antonio was exhausted and he couldn't wait to sleep- for once. He cuddled up to Lovino that night.

Arthur looked to Lantana. " _Now._ "

Lantana grabbed Arthur's wand again and flew out the window.

She didn't know the exact way she flew, so she flew around aimlessly for a few days until she stumbled across a familiar looking shack. She flew into it... and realized that she had not found the right one.

She flew right back out. She was having a bit of trouble carrying the wand, so she decided to put it down for a moment while she rested.

It got snached.

Antonio was out wandering in the forest the next day when he stumbled across a funny looking stick. He picked it up and waved it around. A butterfly that he had been chasing dropped from the sky. He screamed.

Lovino came running into the forest. He found Antonio sobbing, holding the fragile body of a blue and black butterfly. Lovino put his hand on Antonio's back and rubbed it gently.

"Are you alright?"

Antonio shook his head.

"What happened?"

"I-I killed it!" Antonio sobbed.

"How did you kill it?"

"I waved this- this thingy around and I killed it!"

Lovino knelt beside him. "We will have to bury it now, won't we? Give it a proper funeral?"

Antonio just sobbed harder.

Lovino wrapped his arms around Antonio and pulled him close. He took the wand and held it. "It will be okay, Antonio."

"No it will not! I'm a murderer!"

"No you are not, mi tesoro." He stroked his hair.

Antonio began to calm down. He looked back at Lovino. "...can we bury it?"

"Of course." Lovino stood up and grabbed a stick off of a nearby tree. He began to dig a small hole with it.

After the little hole was dug, Antonio lied the butterfly in it and covered it up with dirt. Lovino helped him stand.

"We should go home." Lovino took Antonio's hand and they went back to the shack. Lovino comforted Antonio for a while before they heard a knock on the door. Lovino opened it and Francis and Gilbert were there.

"Bonjour, mes amis!" Francis slung an arm around Lovino's shoulder. "I think I have gotten you a job offer. A friend of mine saw the statue you made for me and decided that they wanted one of their own! I have their requirements and how much they said they would pay you!" Francis handed him a piece of parchment with multiple things written on it and a number at the bottom- 58 shillings. That was quite a bit for someone like him to receive. He looked over the requirements.

"This... is quite complicated."

"The customer believes that you can do this."

"Who are they?"

"Oh, you would not know them."

"Okay..."

Antonio and Gilbert stood awkwardly to the side. Antonio looked at Gilbert.

Gilbert looked back at him. "What?"

"Nothing. I just... wanted to know something."

"What is it?"

"I just wanted to know if two men could be together."

Gilbert smiled softly. "Of course they can. Some people are not very accepting of that, though. They'll hurt you and make fun of you."

Antonio flinched.

"Why did you ask, Antonio?"

"Because... I kind of want me and Lovino-"

"Lovino and I."

"-Lovino and I to be together." Antonio looked down. "I'm stupid for thinking that that could ever happen, though."

"Why do you think that?" Gilbert knew that it was entirely possible.

"Because... he is... into girls, I think."

"Do you know for certain?"

"No..."

"See? You could be together."

Meanwhile, Lantana was looking for the wand. She was freaking out. Not only did she turn a statue human, but she lost the wand that Arthur entrusted to her to reverse it. She was going to be in so much trouble.

She flew around quickly before flying into a small shack. She hovered above the window and looked inside to see...

Someone holding the wand! All she would have to do was get it back from him.

But how? He didn't seem to want to let it go anytime soon. She figured she might have more luck if she waited until it got dark to try anything, so she flew in and found a small hole in the wall to hide in.

* * *

 **I'm sorry I got this up so late. I have no real excuse this time. I just didn't feel like writing until nearly 9 at night. -Lukas**


	16. Chapter 16

Antonio fooled around with the strange stick a little bit. He yelped as the stick began to grow hot in his grasp and he threw it down on the ground, scurrying to put some distance between himself and it. As he started to crawl towards it again, it began to light up, causing the former statue to jump back in shock. Finally, he worked up his nerves and grabbed the stick, carefully inspecting every centimeter of it.

He put it up in the air, aiming it at himself out of curiosity. As he gave it a small wave, a bright flash of light came out of the tip of it. He didn't even have time for his face to turn to a shocked expression until he was stuck in position. Quite literally turned to stone. The wand remained in its position in his marble hands.

He stood like that, frozen in that way, until the night began to grow cold and dark.

Lovino came by, eyes widened at the sight in front of him. How had Antonio been turned back?

"I guess I should have known that it was too good to last..." He mumbled, stroking the statues chiseled features. He jumped to reach what was in his friend's hands. As he pulled it out, it snapped in half. As it did, it sent white sparks all over the area. As one landed on the Italian, he too began to turn to stone.

Lantana flew around and looked at what had happened. She was pretty sure Arthur had only told her to turn _one_ person back into a statue, not two. The sight of the wand, snapped in two pieces, laying on the ground didn't make matters any better. She almost cursed as she struggled to pick up both halves of the wand and flew as fast as her little wings would carry her back to London.

Of course, nothing could go one hundred percent right in her life. Something always had to pop up. Or, in this case, pop out of the wand fragments she was carrying. Several of the white sparks began to pour out of the broken wand and into the forest below her. She just hoped that it didn't hit anybody and kept flying.

Beneath her, a certain gay couple had just been solidified. And not in a sexual way, either.

Once she had arrived back in Arthur's lair, she explained what had happened to the best of her ability. Of course, she couldn't fill in a lot of the blanks. She hadn't been there. That sent a groaning Arthur onto a boat to Italy.

"Honestly, can you do anything? First, you turn a statue into a living person. Then, when I ask you to fix your stupid mistake, you turn a living human into a statue!" He lectured her.

Lantana put her head down, apologizing profusely.

It was a long journey to Rome. A hard one, too, since they didn't know Italian. And Arthur had never been to anywhere in Italy before.

Lantana led the way, showing Arthur exactly where she had left the two statues. Arthur used his magic to enchant a bag to fit both of the statues without damaging either one of them. On their way out of the forest, they ran into another pair of statues.

Arthur gave Lantana yet another glare as he shoved them into the bag to join the other two.

It was easy to get back on the boat to go home. All they had was a small bag on them.

"You know, it really is too bad that I can not undo this spell right now. Unfortunately, I need _that_ wand to do so! But, it is broken because somebody could not keep a good grip on it!"

Lantana sighed. His bitching was getting annoying.

"I guess we can lock them away until we can figure out what to do with them. That spell should stop their aging. _If_ we are able to undo the spell later, they should revive to be just as they were before they were transformed." Arthur sighed. "I suppose that spare closet would do fine..."

The next few hours were used for putting a few protective charms on each of the statues (using his spare wand, of course). He placed them all in the empty closet with a cloth over them. He shut the door and locked it tightly. The last thing he could afford was somebody breaking into there and damaging or stealing one of them. After all, it _was_ partially his fault that they were in such a state.

As he got ready for bed, he had a bit of an accident... That being, he had a bad fall. As he smacked his head off of the hard ground, he could see stars. His vision went black.

As soon as he woke up, his vision was fuzzy. He couldn't remember much of anything. He looked around, blinking rapidly. The throbbing pain is his head stayed. As he felt around in his pockets, he pulled out a key. As much as he tried, he couldn't remember what the key was to. Giving up, he threw it into his junk drawer.

"It must not be very important..." He mumbled, rubbing his forehead softly.

Lantana knew this was trouble. But, then again, what could she do about it? Arthur still couldn't fix it, even if he remembered. And she knew she would probably forget by the end of the week, due to fairies' naturally short-term memory. All she could do was convince herself that it was not something to get worked up about.

* * *

 **A/N: I'm sorry this chapter sucks so much. I had a lot to try to cram into it and no inspiration or motivation whatsoever. I hope Lukas will save us with the next chapter.**


	17. Chapter 17

And that was where the statues stayed for about 400 years. Arthur, being a sorcerer and practicer of magic, made a potion to keep him alive for a long, long time. He found that adjusting to the times was more difficult than he thought it would be. He began to think.

"I should probably clean out my closet, shouldn't I, Lantana? If I'm going to have people over, it might do some good to straighten this place up. What should I clean first?"

Lantana flew around his head and grabbed his ear. She tugged on it, in the direction of a closet that had most of his medieval days. He hadn't opened it since the 17 century.

"Well, that's as good of a place to start as any…" Arthur opened the closet and nearly screamed. There were two lifelike statues looking straight at him and two… embracing. He looked at Lantana. "I'd forgotten all about these."

Arthur had. He had managed to fix his wand, but the statues slipped his mind. He pulled out the wand and waved it. The statues turned into people.

And they all screamed.

Arthur began waving his hands around. "Calm down!"

"Where the fuck are we?! What the fuck happened?!" Lovino screeched.

Antonio, on the other hand, was kind of used to turning from statue to human. "Why does that man have caterpillars on his face?"

Francis and Gilbert had let go of each other, opting instead to start running around like chickens with their heads lopped off.

Arthur sighed softly as Lantana giggled.

Soon, the three that were yelling had calmed down and were looking around.

"This is not where I remember being last…" Lovino muttered softly.

"Because it isn't. My idiot fairy got my wand broken and turned you all to statues."

"...what year is it?" Francis asked.

"2014."

Shock registered on their faces. "2014? As in, almost 400 years further than 1646?"

"Yes." Arthur shooed Lantana away to get a few more of her fairy friends. "Get some cups and something to drink."

Lantana saluted him and flew to collect the others.

Arthur led his guests to the other room and sat them down on his couches. Gilbert wrapped an arm around Francis.

"You two are together, I presume?"

Francis snorted. "Duh."

"Well, sorry, ma'am. I was just trying to be polite."

"Ma'am?! I am NOT a woman!"

"You could've fooled me! Well, you did, but..."

Francis stood quickly. "How dare you, you little-"

Gilbert stood and pushed Francis back onto the couch. "Hey, calm down. This is his house, maybe we should be polite."

"Finally, someone with some common sense." Arthur sipped his cup of tea.

Antonio had been staring at him the whole time. He got up and approached him slowly. Lovino was scared.

Antonio put his finger on an eyebrow and slowly drug it across his forehead. "It is real..."

Lovino wrapped his arms around Antonio's waist and pulled him back down.

"I am sorry about him, sir."

"Who are you all, anyway?"

"I'm Lovino Vargas, that dumbass over there is Francis Bonnefoy, the albino is Gilbert Beilschmidt and he is Antonio... Carriedo."

"I see. We are in England right now."

"...how did we even get here?"

"...well... my fairy friend turned you all into statues and stuffed you in that closet. You've been sort of... dormant ever since."

"Thank you for clearing that up, sir." Lovino had had enough practice with sitting through boring dinner parties to know how to seem polite.

"You're welcome."

Antonio looked between them. He had been around Lovino to know that he was being fake. He didn't know why.

Arthur left the room for a second. Antonio looked at Lovino. "Why were you being nice to him? I could tell you didn't like him."

"It's good to be polite so we don't get thrown out."

Arthur came back. "Would you like to take a walk?"

Lovino and the others nodded. They stood.

"...we'll have to get you clothes first."

"But... I like this airy feeling." Antonio muttered. Lovino smacked him.

"Not again."

Arthur went and got them clothes. They put them on, then headed out.

Francis nearly fainted when he saw what the people were wearing.

Girls were showing their stomachs and legs and boobs. Boys were wearing saggy pants. He could see their underwear.

Gilbert wrapped his arms around him. "Hey, hey, hey. It'll be okay."

Francis leaned on him. "Why? What has happened to the world?"

Antonio and Lovino looked away.

Arthur laughed. "If you think that's bad, we should go to America."

Antonio nodded. "Okay!"

"I was kidding-"

"Let's do it!" Gilbert jumped up and Antonio gave him a high five.

"Yeah!"

Lovino and Arthur facepalmed. They looked at each other and sighed.

"They're idiots."

"They really are."

Antonio looked at Francis. "High five me!"

They high fived.

"The Idiot Trio is born..." Arthur sighed. "Now they'll make even worse decisions."

Lovino nodded. "I can't wait..." He said sarcastically.

Arthur looked at him. "You're not that bad, you know?"

"I do, yes." Lovino began to think. "...do you know what happened to my brothers after I... got turned into stone?"

"...Feliciano went and got into a relationship with Ludwig Beilschmidt. Angelo became a popular candlemaker. Romulus died peacefully of old age."

Lovino was glad he went easily. "What about Feliciano?"

Arthur looked around and froze. "...where'd they go?"

Lovino tensed up as well. "...fuck." He turned around. "Let's go this way."

"No, this way." Lovino followed Arthur down the street. He knew Arthur knew his way around the town, so he wouldn't get lost.

* * *

 **Lukas here. Guys, I love you, and I'm glad you read this, but Mathias and I would like it if we got more reviews. 16 in total, maybe?**

 **Mathias won't update until we get 16 total.**


	18. Chapter 18

**Shoutout to Quizicalcoatl and Rising from the Ashes YOLT for reviewing so much! And for Tytydown for the last review that was needed for this. You guys are what make this story worth writing. (Also, Mathias is a piece of crap. I had to write nearly half of it because that lazy buttface wouldn't write.) - Lukas**

* * *

It turned out that the three doofuses (doofusi?) had found an abandoned car and were checking out everything in it. One was standing on the hood, one was trying to pry open the driver's' side door and the other was standing on the top of the car.

Gilbert pulled on the door handle as hard as he could to try to open it. Antonio stood on the roof, looking down at Gilbert. "There's an opening here!" He said, as he looked through the clear window. He began to jump up and down on the car roof, on the sunroof. It began to break. He finally fell in and the car alarm began to blare. Antonio frowned and looked at Gilbert before opening the driver's' side door.

"What is this?" Francis joined them in the car.

Lovino frowned deeply. Arthur shook his head. "Let's go get them before they get thrown in jail."

"...what?" Lovino wasn't sure what Arthur meant.

"They're going to be locked up for a while if we don't get them away from here. Besides, how would we tell the police who they are? 'Yeah, these guys are from the 1600's. They got turned into statues and they don't know the laws that have come into effect since then.' "

"I guess..."

Arthur got the three dimwits out of the car, down the road and into an alley. Within ten minutes, there was a cry of 'what the fuck?!' echoing down the alley. Arthur groaned softly.

"Not him, please... anyone but him..." Arthur began to walk further down the alley. The others followed him, leaving the sound of 'dude, this is so not cool' behind them.

Arthur brought them back to his place rather quickly, and without much other human interaction. He locked the door behind them. "Are you hungry?"

Antonio nodded quickly. "I could eat... Couldn't you, Franny? Gil?"

They shrugged. Lovino sighed. "I'm hungry."

"Alright. I'll cook. **Stay. Inside.** " He went into the kitchen. (If only they knew...)

The other four awkwardly looked at each other, then settled for taking in their surroundings. It was all still so fascinating to them.

Arthur hummed softly as he began to make food. All was going well. He turned away from the stove, taking the time to casually lean against the nearby counter. He closed his eyes, trying to think of what he was going to do with his new annoyances. His eyes were only opened again when the familiar scent of smoke hit his nostrils and his bushy eyebrows raised in shock.

He rapidly turned around, catching sight of the small fire that had begun to burn on the stove top, and sighed softly. "Not again..." He muttered as he quickly cast a spell to make the flames die down, wishing he had been able to master the spell that would revive the food.

He scraped the ruined casserole onto five different plates stacked them in a way as to not allow the bottom of any plate to be soiled.

"I hope you gentlemen don't mind that dinner will be a little crispy," Arthur said as he reentered the living room before looking up. He went beet red and nearly dropped the food at what he saw before him.

The idiots had apparently become a tad bit curious and decided to snooping in his private room. _The nerve!_ He mentally cursed, removing the phallic object from Gilbert's hands. "Who went into my room?"

Gilbert and Francis simply pointed at Antonio. Lovino sighed. "I'm so sorry about him."

Arthur simply grumbled. "It's fine." He hurried back into his room to put it up. Of course, he didn't blame the Italian. He couldn't possibly expect him to keep two of them under control, let alone all three. He shut his nightstand drawer, absolutely traumatized. Of course, it was likely that the other men would have no idea what the thing was... But it was still embarrassing.

"What was that thing?" Antonio asked, looking toward Lovino.

Lovino simply rolled his eyes and shrugged his shoulder. "I don't know."

"It looked dirty," Francis suggested.

"Everything looks dirty to you," Arthur stated, reentering the living room. "And I would appreciate it if everybody would stay out of my bedroom."

"... So you're saying it was dirty?" Of course that's what Gilbert got out of that.

"No!" Arthur snapped, his face going flushed again. "It was not."

"Can we just eat?" Lovino sighed, desperate for a subject change. The Brit was more than happy to oblige.

"Yes. Let's."

Nobody complained about the burnt food. After all the man had done for them so far, the least they could do was eat the dinner that he had made for them, even if it sucked. Which it did. Majorly.

After choking down most of the food, Antonio took a seat next to Lovino. "I'm sorry about earlier."

Lovino shrugged. "Whatever."

Antonio smiled that dorky smile. Lovino grimaced. _Damn you. Stop being so cute.  
_

The smile began to fall. "Are you okay, Lovi?"

"Don't call me that."

Antonio chuckled, realizing that his little buddy was alright. He threw an arm around his shoulder, planting a kiss on his cheek.

It was Lovino's turn to turn red.

"You're so cute." Antonio smiled again, ruffling Lovino's hair and bouncing his hair curl a little bit.

"Leave that alone and shut the hell up. I'm not cute, you are-"

"You think I'm cute?" Antonio cocked his head in amusement. "Aww, Lovi-"

 **"Shut. Up."**

* * *

 **A/N: Hey, this is Mathias. Lukas is a dirty liar. Sorry if it sucked.** **:)**

 **No I'm not. You're just lazy.**


	19. Chapter 19

**I do not own Hetalia. I do not own Bugles. Also, if you don't want feels, skip from the horizontal line before the italics to the one after. - Lukas.**

* * *

By day three of being human, Lovino wanted to kill someone. Probaby Francis-and Arthur was feeling the same way. That damn Frenchman could not keep his hands to himself. Francis snooped through Arthur's things when Arthur was at work, he wouldn't let Arthur back in the kitchen and, even though Arthur had asked him not to, he went out on the town. Of course, Lovino went out and hauled his ass back.

But, while Lovino was getting Francis, Gilbert decided to go out. When Lovino returned, he noticed that Gilbert was gone. He frowned a little and looked at Antonio.

" ** _Please_** don't go anywhere."

Antonio smiled sheepishly. "...okay..."

Lovino went back out. Francis looked at Antonio. "Let's go."

"But Lovi said-"

"Is Lovino your mother? Because it seems like it." Francis grabbed Antonio's wrist. "Come on. Let loose. Have a little fun."

"But... I don't know how. I was a statue for a while. I was only human for a few weeks before I got turned back."

"Oh man. This is going to be fun." He pulled him out the door.

Lovino returned ten minutes later, Gilbert-less. He frowned deeply when he saw the house empty. "Great. Just fucking fantastic."

He just decided to give up. He went through the kitchen when he got hungry. He looked through the cabinets. He didn't see anything that was familiar. He supposed 'Bugles' couldn't be _that_ bad, especially since they were cheese flavored.

He sat down with the unopened bag before spotting a long, thin piece of plastic covered in buttons. He scanned the buttons before finding a red button that said 'power.' He pushed it, hoping something would happen. He flinched when he heard a voice.

 _"There's a long line of storms stretching from Bordeaux to Munich, moving northwest. Expect heavy rainfall, harsh winds and hail. If possible, move to the lowest floor of your home to avoid any-"_

Lovino hit the button with the word 'guide' underneath. He opened the 'Bugles' before grabbing on and putting it in his mouth. He read through the channels, then hit the 'ok' button on a channel that looked interesting. 'Cartoon Network.' It's not like he knew what 'cartoons' were.

He was instantly entranced by the quickly moving colors on the television. He mindlessly grabbed a few 'Bugles' at a time and ate them, one by one. He was quiet, listening to the characters speak to each other until a clap of thunder broke him out of his trance. He squeaked and snatched a pillow from the couch, holding it to his chest. He squeezed his eyes shut, whimpering softly as the rain began to fall gently on the roof.

Arthur ran from his work to his house, getting soaked in the process. He didn't know what to expect when he got back.

He came in the door, half expecting to see his home trashed and half expecting to see the four passed out on the couch. What he saw was neither of those options.

Lovino was curled up on the couch, holding a pillow to his chest. His eyes were wide with fear, and an empty bag of Bugles sat beside him.

"Lovino?"

Lovino looked at Arthur. He seemed to calm down a little.

"Do you know where Antonio, Gilbert, and Francis are?"

"No. They ran off not too long after you left. I tried to keep them all here, but they wouldn't listen to me." Lovino shrugged a little.

"Of course they did. We can go check the jail when this storm lets up." Arthur took his shoes and jacket off. "I'm going to take a shower, alright?"

Lovino nodded.

Arthur went into the bathroom. He stripped and turned on the tap, turning the knob to the bath, making it warmer or colder. He got the water to what he wanted it to be before he put the plug in and poured some lavender bubbles in. He turned the water off when it got high enough. He got in, sighing a little as the warm water went over him.

Lovino stayed where he was. He hoped the three idiots were safe. As much as he'd hate to admit it, he'd kind of... grown fond of the troublemakers.

Lovino began to think. 'What happened to Feliciano? What happened to Angelo? What happened to Romulus? And my other sculptures? I'll ask Arthur later. He might know.'

After a while, Arthur got out of the bath. He got out, dried and dressed before returning to the living room.

"Arthur?" Lovino asked.

"Yes?"

"What happened to my brother?"

"I have no clue. We can see, though, if you'd like."

"How is that possible?" Lovino wondered.

"Come here." Arthur reached into one of his drawers and pulled out his wand. He held his hand out to Lovino. Lovino grasped it.

Arthur waved his wand. They were in Italy.

* * *

 _"Nonno, where is Lovino? He should be back by now..." Feliciano asked his grandfather._

 _"I don't know, Feliciano. He's probably still at his shack. Why don't you go looking for him?"_

 _"Alright, Nonno." Feliciano went looking for Lovino. He looked everywhere, but he couldn't find him._

Lovino's eyes widened. "Oh, god..." They felt time warp around them before it stopped.

 _"Nonno? I have someone I want you to meet..." Feliciano knocked on Romulus's bedroom door._

 _"Well, come in. Bring them in."_

 _Feliciano opened the door to reveal a pale, weak and dying Romulus._

 _Feliciano had a tall blond with blue eyes standing beside him._

 _"Who is this, Feli?"_

 _"This is Ludwig. He's a good friend of mine! He's helping me."_

 _"That's good. Would you mind getting me something to eat? I'm a bit hungry..." Romulus knew he was going to pass. It was just a matter of time..._

 _"I will, Nonno." Feli went into the kitchen to get something for Romulus to eat. Romulus looked at Ludwig._

 _"Come here. I need to talk to you without him hearing."_

 _"Yes, sir." Ludwig came and knelt by the bed._

 _"I know I'm going to pass soon. Promise me you will be there for Feliciano. He won't be able to get over this by himself."_

 _"What about your youngest grandson, sir?"_

 _"He's already left. He went under the apprenticeship in candle making. He won't be back. Just... promise me. Please. Give this old man one last thing to be happy about."_

 _"I will, sir. I'll keep him safe."_

 _Two days later, Romulus passed. There was a fairly big funeral._

They felt time twist again.

 _"Feliciano Vargas and Ludwig Beilschmidt. For your punishments, you will be hanged." A way-too-happy voice announced._

 _"What have we done?!" Feliciano's body was wracked with sobs._

 _"You have performed the act of sodomy on another man."_

 _Feliciano looked at Ludwig with tear-filled eyes. Ludwig looked back at him before holding out his hand to take._

 _"When we go, we'll go together." Ludwig murmured._

 _They were marched up to the gallows. People began to gather around._

 _"Look at them. Dirty homosexuals!" People began to yell._

Lovino looked at Arthur. "Can we go?" He was gripping Arthur's hand for dear life. Tears were streaming down his face.

Arthur waved his wand, and they were gone.

* * *

Lovino collapsed on the couch, grabbing the same pillow as before. He buried his face into it, hoping it would stifle his sobs.

"My... my brother... was hung for being with another man." He looked at Arthur.

Arthur sat beside him and rubbed his back. "Yes."

"I... I can't believe it."

The door swung open.

Antonio led the trio, with Gilbert and Francis following behind him.

"That was totally awesome!" Gilbert had learned the word from a woman walking down the street. It was his favorite.

"What's going on?" Antonio frowned when he saw Lovino and Arthur on the couch.

"Everything's fine. Now, tell me, where in the world have you been?!"

"...that's a long story."

"I'm hungry." Antonio chimed in.

"I'll make dinner," Francis said. "While you-" he narrowed his eyes at Gilbert. "Tell him what you got into."

"I will. When you do."

"Just sit down. You can eat after you tell me."

"Well... it started with a kitten." Gilbert began.


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: Hey, Matthias here. Sorry that I'm such a piece of crap. Lukey whipped me into shape if ya know what I mean. ;)**

* * *

"Well... It started with a kitten…" Gilbert sighed, turning to Francis for help.

The Frenchman, after clearing his throat, gladly took over.

"You see, Gilbert and I found the cutest little kitten on the sidewalk. Really fuzzy, white with some grey spots and the most adorable little blue collar around its neck. It was standing next to a small child, who didn't seem very happy when we picked it up, but that isn't important."

Arthur facepalmed. Francis paid no attention to him and continued to tell his tale.

"Gilbert held the kitten close to his chest and we knew that we just _had_ to show Tonio. So, off we went to find him. We hollered his name a few times and then we saw him down the street. He wasn't even looking at us, so we thought that he just hadn't heard us. We started running toward him, still yelling his name."

Antonio looked up at this point, interested. After all, he hadn't been there to see this part of the story.

Arthur sighed again, scared for what was about to come next. He knew that is couldn't be good.

Gilbert started to tell the story. "We got right up behind Antonio and patted him on the shoulder. He finally turned around and I shoved the kitten in his face. The kitten got a little scared and might have... sorta... peed on his face. And then, Francis and I realized that... he wasn't Antonio."

Antonio gasped as he started to laugh a little and Francis was muffling his giggles into his palm. Arthur sighed. This was definitely about to end with a law suit.

The German man resumed the story, "The man glared at us. He seemed quite livid. Francis and I began to run as fast as we could. He chased after us for a little bit before a lady stopped us. She looked about thirty or so. 'Why did you steal my son's kitten?' She asked us."

Francis took over the story again. "Her stopping us gave that other man time to catch up with us. He asked us for our names, so we gave them to him. He said that we'd be hearing from his lawyer...? Whatever that means."

Arthur put his head in his hands as he sighed heavily once again. Great. That would be just one more thing to have on his plate. "What about you?" He asked, turning to look at Antonio. "Where were you and what were you doing during this? And please tell me that you aren't also getting me sued."

"Uh... I don't think so," Antonio said. "I was just at the park."

Arthur let out the breath he was holding, relieved. "Thank you for the being the slightly tamer one. But I could thank Lovino more. _For staying in here_."

Antonio looked down in shame. Gilbert was unphased. Francis just gave the Englishman a smirk. "Don't be so uptight, Arthur."

"Don't even try me, you stupid frog."

Francis scoffed. "Frog? Darling, he called me a frog!"

Gilbert shrugged, still twiddling his thumbs.

Then, a thought came to Arthur. "Guys... we have a serious problem."

The other four men looked up at him expectantly.

"What happens if that man really wants us to hear from his lawyer? He'll look you guys up and you won't exist! This current time doesn't know about you..." He sighed softly. "Nevermind. I have to figure something out. If it doesn't come up soon, it will some time. I have to do something about you four. I'm going to the basement to work. _Stay in here._ " Arthur greatly emphasized the command before disappearing around the corner and down the stairs.

This time, they decided to obey him. This was sounding serious and they didn't want to make this hole that they had dug themselves into any deeper.

After several minutes of sitting around, staring at the wall in awkward silence, there was a knock at the door. They all looked at each other before Lovino stood and made his way to the door. He opened it. "Hello?"

"Arthur, _dude,_ you'll never guess what some- Wait, who are you? And where's Arthur? You jerk, you must have kidnapped him!" The man jumped to a conclusion, backing Lovino against a wall.

"Calm the hell down!" Lovino snapped, pushing him away. "Arthur is in the basement. Who are you and what do you want?"

But the blond man decided to avoid Lovino's questions, instead letting his eyes wander over to the couch, where the idiot trio was seated. His facial expression quickly turned angry. "You two! You're the idiots who- Grr." He snarled at Francis and Gilbert.

"Awesome, just _awesome_..." Lovino mumbled, putting two and two together.

Arthur stormed back up the stairs and into the living room. "What's all the yelling for? Oh, hello, Alfred. What a... pleasant surprise."

"These two stuck a cat in my face and it peed on me! What are they doing in your house?"

"Just... Just have a seat. Gilbert, Francis, Lovino, Antonio, this is my little brother. Alfred, you know Gilbert and Francis. And these two are Lovino and Antonio."

Alfred sat in an empty chair and looked at Arthur. The other four listened intently while Arthur talked Alfred out of pressing charges and assured him that they would get a stern talking to.

"By the way," Alfred said, glancing down at his phone, "Can we have Mathieu's birthday party here? My place is a mess and I don't want to clean it."

"Fine. But _you're_ buying the decorations. I guess it's about time he met these four."

"Who's Mathieu?" Antonio asked, cocking his head at the unfamiliar name.

"Alfred's twin," Arthur answered.


	21. Chapter 21

**I am so sorry that I got this done as late as I have. My hard drive got shot and I had to get a new one. (Also, I'm a shitty human being and school is kicking my ass.) There's this class that really doesn't like to let up on me. Mathias is also having trouble keeping up with it. -Lukas.**

* * *

"Mattie is gonna be so happy, bro." Alfred smiled. He had boxes in the bed of his truck (he had to take his car in for repairs.) He had the tailgate down to make the removal of certain items easier.

Lovino hopped up and grabbed a box, grunting a little under the weight. He could handle it. "What the fuck do you have in here?"

"Just a few fireworks!"

Arthur looked at Alfred, his eyes widening. "No."

"It's fine, dude. I made sure it was legal. I'll make sure to keep it all in your yard. We'll stop before eleven."

"No. I don't want them set off at all."

"Dude... please?"

"No."

Lovino left the box alone. He decided that if Arthur wanted to use fireworks, he could.

Alfred pouted before grabbing another box. "Fine. No fireworks. How about... sparklers?"

"...fine. We can do sparklers." Arthur picked up a rather light box. "What's in this?"

"Decorations!" Alfred closed the bed of the truck after the last needed box was brought in. He began to open each, assigning someone to each task.

"Lovino, you wrap the presents. Antonio and Gilbert, you two put up decorations. Arthur, tell them where to put everything. Francis, help me make his cake."

Francis followed Alfred into the kitchen. "...are you sure they will be okay in there?"

"I'm pretty sure they're going to be fine." Alfred had brought ingredients they needed into the kitchen. He put them on the counter. Francis stayed away from the oven and stove.

"Okay, so..." He grabbed his phone and pulled up Google. He looked up how to make a cake, then handed the phone to Francis. "Follow those instructions and you'll be fine." He walked out of the kitchen.

"...wait..." Francis said, but Alfred was gone. "...fuck."

* * *

Two hours and half a box of confetti later, Arthur's house was ready for Alfred's brother. Alfred was so excited- he couldn't help but fiddle. Fiddle with the hem of his shirt, fiddle with an unlit candle on the table, fiddle with his glasses.

Lovino sighed softly, picking up some of the discarded wrapping paper that he didn't use. He put it in the trash, keeping his eyes off everyone else.

Lovino was sore. His bones ached. He kept himself so busy with his sculpting that he didn't notice what it actually did to him. His hands were rough, his eyes had bags under them, he had an almost permanent slouch. His muscles were burning. Now that he had had a day off... He went into Arthur's bathroom, taking a look in the mirror. He frowned a little. "I look like shit." He muttered to himself.

Antonio was getting a little worried. Lovino had been acting a little different. He was a little more... subdued. When Gilbert had bumped into him when he was wrapping presents, he didn't spare him a second glance. He followed Lovino into the bathroom.

"You do not." Antonio frowned. He hated hearing Lovino put himself down like that.

"How do I not?" Antonio wrapped his arms around Lovino.

"You... you're always gorgeous. Let's go back to the living room. Mathieu should be here soon, and I don't want Alfred to get angry at us for not being there." Neither of them made a move to go into the living room. Lovino rested his head on Antonio's shoulder.

"Are you okay?" Antonio ran his fingers through Lovino's hair.

"Yes. I'm just sore. It hurts to move." He closed his eyes, savoring Antonio's touch. "I never really realized what my occupation did to my body."

Alfred walked by. "Mattie will be here within ten minutes." He walked into the kitchen... "...what have you done?!"

Francis looked at Alfred sheepishly. "I tried to follow the instructions..."

Alfred opened the oven door and pulled the gooey mess out of it with oven mitts. "You should have put in a cake pan, not on a cookie sheet!"

"You shouldn't have let me cook! I don't know how this stuff works!"

"Ugh... just... clean this up. I'll go get a store-bought cake really quickly. Alfred grabbed his car keys and drove to the store.

* * *

Mathieu didn't know what to expect. He was a little worried when Alfred had told him to go to Arthur's house. He was worried he had forgotten his birthday... again. He gently knocked on the door.

Arthur opened it. "Come in."

Mathieu stepped inside. He looked around at the decorations. He smiled softly. "You guys didn't forget!" He hugged him.

Arthur rubbed his back. "There are a few people here I would like you to meet. This is Lovino. This is Antonio, his boyfriend."

Lovino sputtered indignantly. "That is not true!"

Antonio laughed and patted the top of Lovino's head. "It could be."

Lovino blushed hotly.

"That is Gilbert. That is Francis." He pointed to each of them in turn.

"Where'd Al go?"

"To the store. He forgot something."

"When does he not?" Mathieu muttered. He sighed softly. "Goodness... it's been a long week."

Arthur nodded. "It's been long for me, too."

Francis lightly hit Gilbert. "Stop staring."

"Sorry..." Gilbert looked at his boyfriend. Francis looked at him.

"We need to talk. Come with me."

Gilbert got nervous. He followed Francis to the kitchen.

"Gilbert, I don't think this will work out."

"...oh... I see."

"You think so too. It used to be amazing between us, but... I think we've just... split apart a little. Don't you think so, too?"

Gilbert nodded. "We can still be friends, right?"

"Of course."

* * *

 **Oh, lordy. Again, I'm sorry. We'll try to update over breaks in school, but we can't guarantee anything. We love reviews!**


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